An Alternate Reality
by Cheshire Crow
Summary: Sort of follows storyline. My version of the story with an added character and eventually a happier ending. A mysterious wolf is driven to protect Kiba at all costs. KibaxOC Yaoi. R&R at least the first chapter M for violence, language, and sexual content
1. Chapter 1

**PLEASE READ! IMPORTANT INFORMATION!**

Okay so this idea has been floating around in my head for a while and it won't leave me alone so I'm going to write it down. It is based off the anime and sort of follows it with the exception of my OC. I will be adding scenes and such to develop my character. Also there will be at least mild yaoi if not an actual lemon so if you don't like it don't read it! The pairings are KibaxOC TsumexToboe and HigexBlue. I won't really be focusing on the other two pairings much but they will at least be mentioned. I will be writing all the way through the anime all the way until episode thirty so get ready for a long ride. The chapters will focus solely on Kiba and my OC. That means if the scene doesn't have Kiba in it I won't be mentioning it so if you get lost watch those episodes in the anime. Also I am basing all the dialog off the English dubbed version of the anime. If you want specifics for surroundings or certain fights you can watch that to get a better idea although if you're reading this chances are you already have. Well I guess that's it… Reviews are welcome and very much appreciated. If you have any questions I will do my best to answer them.

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><p>Slowly I trailed behind the white wolf. The one chosen by the flowers to protect the precious Flower Maiden that would open the doors of Paradise. Kiba.<p>

I had been following him for a period of months. My duty was not unlike his own. However, instead of the Flower Maiden, I am charged with protecting him for he too is needed for the Gates to open. Just as he is driven by no tangible force to find and protect the Flower Maiden, I am driven to protect him for no reason I can fathom. I had never met him when I set off to find him. We still haven't spoken.

He knows I'm following him but he also knows I wont hurt him. The only time's he has seen me are when he has been overwhelmed in a fight. Even then it is only for a short time. As soon as he is safe again I give him space. He doesn't seem to really mind.

The reason I don't just travel with him is because I think it is easier on him this way. I don't speak for reasons I'd rather not discuss and my distance allows him to make decisions on his own without my interference.

A sound carried back to me by the wind catches my attention. A gunshot. I sprint to where Kiba was fending off a large black dog while a man shot at him. Kiba was bleeding on his left hind leg where a bullet grazed him.

I charged in and knocked the black dog off him. It turned and bit into my right shoulder. I snarled and grabbed its scruff and threw it at the man who was trying to reload. They fell and gave us both a chance to escape.

Kiba turned to look at me but I had already disappeared from his view. He looked around for a minute, sniffed the air, and then turned back in the direction he was going before he was attacked. I followed at a safe distance. We were both slowed by our injuries but we made it to a domed city by sundown.

Kiba found a tree in what looked to be a deserted part of town and laid down under it. I jumped into the branches above him and made sure he was asleep before I headed out to confirm my suspicions of other wolves. I found a dark brown pup with some kind of bracelet on his right front paw hiding in an alley way, a lighter brown with a collar with a metal plate on it stealing food on a market street, and a dark gray with an 'X' shaped scar on his chest in an old abandoned building.

All the while I was searching the city I couldn't help but notice a faint scent coming from the center of the city…. Lunar flowers. The Flower Maiden is near.

I returned to where Kiba was sleeping but not before noticing the man and dog from earlier. The man was entering a bar._ How troublesome… I wonder how long that man will pursue us._ I left before the dog could notice me. Returning to the tree I found Kiba still sound asleep under the tree and no one in sight. Settling onto a branch high enough that no one would notice me I fell into a light resting state.

I woke midday to a gathering crowd of young men at the base of the tree. Kiba was still in the base, no doubt awake, waiting to see what the humans would do. They were talking about him, marveling at his size and wondering if they could eat or sell him. To be honest I wanted to jump down and kill them all for speaking in such a manner but I held my position.

Then the gray wolf with the scar walked through them. I heard someone call him Tsume. As soon as he saw Kiba his eyes widened.

"That is not a dog. Pull him out of there." Tsume told the two closest men.

As soon as they reached for him Kiba sprang to life. He killed the one easily. The other shot his crossbow at him. He missed and Kiba was at his throat before the poor bastard knew what hit him. Kiba released his throat as he snarled at a boy who looked like he did or was going to piss his pants.

Tsume punched the boy and he went flying out of the way. Kiba and Tsume locked eyes.

"How interesting," Tsume smirked before turning and running off with Kiba at his heels.

The boy recovered from where he had landed and he got up and ran after the two. I too followed, still remaining in the shadows. I overtook the boy and spotted Kiba and Tsume on a building top. I hid behind a block of cement and watched them face off.

"That was quite a stunt," Tsume said, looking none too happy.

"I was protecting myself, that's all," Kiba growled.

"Don't be so quick to kill."

"What's wrong with killing?"

"I don't know what mountain you came down from but you're in the city now, there are rules."

"Rules? Is running around the city with a pack of idiots one of the rules?"

"I'm only using 'em."

"Your rules stink like this city. What's the point of living if it means throwing away your pride?"

"You got a big mouth for someone half dead." Tsume snarled, his human fangs elongating.

Kiba only snarled in response. They jumped at each other. They met and blood spattered onto the concrete. They continued to fight but neither could really get the other.

The boy finally caught up and as he topped the staircase he saw Tsume's wolf form by the look on his face. He shook his head and looked to the fight again just in time to see Kiba knock Tsume down and bite down on one of the knives Tsume used. Tsume kicked the wound on Kiba's hind leg and pushed him off.

Tsume was still on the ground as Kiba started to advance. The boy chose that moment to run in and start swinging that orange stick thing he carried. Kiba dodged easily and backed off. He gave Tsume one last look before leaving.

I watched the boy turn to Tsume. He reached out to wipe the blood off Tsume's face until Tsume yelled at him. They talked for a minute before Tsume left.

I found Kiba getting a drink from something that resembled a fountain. He then walked off into the city favoring his hind leg. I followed along the roof tops.

Suddenly I smelled gunpowder. About twenty feet from Kiba was that damned drunkard and his dog. He cocked his rifle and Kiba turned around, baring his fangs. The dog charged and I had just enough time to jump down in front of Kiba before the old man fired.

The bullet went through my left side and out the right and into Kiba. We both collapsed. I tried to get up but my vision blurred and I blacked out.

When I came to I was in a steel cage. My body hurt and my head was still swimming from the blood loss. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was in a building of some kind with nothing particularly special about the room I was in. As I looked to my right I found Kiba in another cage identical to mine. I then examined my gunshot wound. It didn't look too bad but there was a lot of blood staining my moon silver fur. When I lifted my head he opened his eyes to look at me.

"I don't know who you are or why you're following me but… thank you… you've saved me several times now."

I nodded in response.

"I'm Kiba by the way, I don't know if you already knew that or not."

I nodded again.

"Are you going to talk?"

I shook my head no.

"Not even to tell me your name?"

I shook my head. He sighed.

"Fine, whatever. You don't mind if I call you Gin then do you?"

I shook my head once more.

He closed his eyes again and before long he was asleep again. While he was asleep I picked the lock to my cage. Before I could get Kiba out I heard someone approaching. I hid in the corner of the room.

The lighter brown wolf with the collar entered the room and stood in front of Kiba's cage. Kiba opened his eyes.

Before either could do anything a woman and a man entered the room.

"Hey what are you doing? What department are you with?…And what happened to that other dog?" The man questioned.

The brown wolf turned around.

"Oh sorry, I was looking for cleaning supplies, I guess I musta got lost… and what other dog? He's the only one I saw." The brown wolf lied smoothly.

"Never mind, just go out through that door supplies are on the right." The man said pointing to a door on the right side of the room.

"Oh are they? Thanks!" The wolf hurried out of the room. I had no doubt he would be back if the humans didn't take Kiba with them.

The woman walked up to the front of Kiba's cage and bent over to get a better look.

"So do you think it's really a wolf?" The man asked.

"I don't know, I've never seen a real one before. But if it is a wolf it may be what's causing this sudden reaction in Cheza."

"Oh please, not Cheza again."

"What's that mean?"

"It's because of her you and I broke up."

"Stop acting like an idiot Hubb and bring this up to the lab"

"I'll have someone do it later. Dogs and I don't get along all that well. I'm kind of allergic to them."

The woman sighed. "This is the reason you and I would never work."

"I don't know, maybe it is just a matter of time."

They both left and just as I was about to move and help Kiba escape the brown wolf showed up again. He squatted in front of Kiba's cage smiling a soft friendly smile.

"Man you really screwed up." Kiba didn't react. The wolf, in his human form, rested his head on his hand. "I mean I've seen one of us get caught before but never this badly."

Kiba cracked an eye open. "I can get out of here whenever I feel like it."

"Uh huh, so then why are you in there?"

"I just… needed a place to rest for a while, that's all."

The brown wolf laughed softly. "I'm Hige, it's nice to meet ya."

"So why are you in here anyway?"

"No reason, it smelled like something interesting was gunna happen so I just followed my nose… ya know? Besides I got no where else to go."

"That's not your true form. Why do you hide yourself?"

"So I don't end up where you are. These people are terrified of us so, ya know, if we look like them they pretty much leave us alone."

Kiba snarled. "Living a lie, just so you can die a miserable death in this city."

"Gotta do what you can to survive, right? Keep looking like that and you'll be back here in no time. It draws too much attention."

Kiba rose to his feet still snarling. "Have you given up your pride as a wolf?"

Hige was surprised but recovered quickly. "You're a strange one alright, but having pride doesn't count for much if you're dead, ya know?"

Now it was Kiba's turn to be surprised. Before anything else could happen a siren went off. Kiba took the opportunity with all the chaos to break out of the cage. His jaws were really something, even able to bend steel bars.

Kiba slipped out of the cage and took his human form for the first time. He and Hige left the room. I followed shortly after. Kiba was still limping but he didn't look as bad anymore. I followed them out the front doors with out incident. Except the guy, Hubb, noticed them on their way out but it was okay since he didn't know they were wolves.

A man came running out and right up to Hubb.

"Sir, that big dog, it disappeared!"

"What?"

Hubb and that woman ran into the building after the man who had reported Kiba missing. Mean while Kiba and Hige were already half way down the front steps.

Kiba followed Hige to yet another abandoned part of the city. They laid there quietly while Kiba's wounds slowly healed by the moonlight. They stayed like that for a few hours. Eventually Hige broke the silence.

"Your wounds, have they healed?"

"Yeah, after all it's a full moon tonight."

"So why'd you come to this crummy town anyway?"

"I smelled something, the scent of lunar flower. It's here, in this city."

"Yeah, I know. My nose can tell when a dog's taking a dump ten kilometers away."

"Yeah? That must really stink."

"Sure does!"

And Kiba smiled for the first time in a long time. It surprised Hige at first but then he only smiled bigger.

"So why did you escape with me?"

"Oh I don't know, I just felt like it I guess. Besides you seem kind of interesting. So what's next? Where you headed?"

"To Paradise…there isn't any moonlight in this place."

"Paradise huh? That sounds like fun."

"My name is… Kiba."

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><p>Okay… that's the first chapter… not much differences yet and there probably won't be until they leave the city. In keeping with the theme that all the wolves' names mean something I named my OC Gin which means silver so… yeah… Again reviews are very much appreciated and I do read them and try to follow the advice.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Hige took Kiba around and showed him the city. There was truly nothing remarkable about it at all… except for that faint scent coming from the center of the city.

At around midday the pair walked past two women who were talking about Kiba. They had a pug with them that saw what the pair really was but no one else paid any mind to the two.

As they passed by a hot dog stand Hige stopped to sniff at them, before grabbing two without the vendor noticing. He trotted to catch up to Kiba and around a corner into an alley way. They were at an intersection of alleys before Hige spoke up.

"See what I tell you? Nobody notices us." Hige said as he sat down on some steps and tossed Kiba a hot dog before pulling out one for himself. Kiba caught his and looked at it suspiciously before sniffing at it and taking a bite. The look on his face said it all.

"This is awful."

"It's the best you can get around here. If I see a deer loping by I'll be sure to catch it for you." Hige said without looking at Kiba. He finished his hot dog in the same breath.

With a disgusted look on his face Kiba took another bite. The pair looked up to where three birds were discussing the activities of the Nobles. I had to duck down to make sure they didn't see me.

"The Nobles are at it again. It seems like they pick up one idiot after another." Hige said without much interest.

"Where do the troops take them once they're caught?"

"Well, the same place they took you I guess."

They both looked toward the center of the city.

"That's perfect. I'll blend in and sneak inside."

"What? But we had to fool them just to get out of there. That hot dog fried your brain."

"I'm going back in."

"Now wait a second, what the hell happened to Paradise?"

"Look, the scent is coming from somewhere inside that building. And as far as we can tell the only way in is to get captured. You know what's there don't you? What they're hiding behind those walls? The beacon that will lead us to Paradise."

"Well forget it, you'll never get close to Cheza."

"Cheza?"

"The Flower Maiden that was created from lunar flowers. That's what they say anyway. Listen, it's useless, they got that place locked down. Even I couldn't get as far as the lab."

"So then why did you try to sneak in there?"

"For a little excitement I guess."

"Hige, don't you believe in Paradise too?"

"I'm not going, no way."

"Alright see you around." Kiba said as he walked off.

"Hey Kiba!… try to give a guy advice and what does it get ya? See if I care."

I commend Hige for trying but once Kiba has set his mind to something you might as well give up. The whole city could have been after him and he would have still gone.

I followed Kiba along the roof tops watching his progress. His decision to get captured may not have been a great idea but I would try to help nonetheless. I pulled some strings and he played his part, although he was looking around for me. I guess I'm not as subtle as I thought. Or maybe he's just sharper than most.

They loaded him into the truck and drove off. I noticed Tsume near by, no doubt disapproving of Kiba's capture. But he didn't know what was really going on.

I followed the armored car to the building from last night. Sneaking around I managed to get into a neighboring cell without anyone noticing me.

A little while later we had a surprise. Hige walked into the cell Kiba was in.

"Yo." Hige smiled.

"Hige, what in the world are you doing in here?" Kiba asked as Hige slid down the wall to sit next to Kiba.

"Come on, we're friends now aren't we?"

"Coming from you that sounds kind of fishy."

They talked for a few hours before the guards came back and handed out food, water, and blankets. Everyone went to sleep after they ate.

I had to be around midnight when Kiba and I awoke.

"Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Hige asked groggily.

"This isn't right, something's gunna happen."

Hige sniffed the air, "I don't smell anything, except for the mildew."

"It's getting closer."

"So you wanna break outta here?"

"Yeah," came the simple answer before they both jumped up.

I heard Kiba grab onto the bars before Hige stopped him. Probably pulling out the key that he had somehow gotten a hold of. Well, to be honest they weren't that hard to get since I had one too.

They ran through the halls until they took to an air vent. I had to jump above the doorway to keep from being seen by the guard. As soon as he passed I followed through the vent. When they finally came to the end they jumped down and turned right. I stayed at the end of the vent.

Suddenly a man walked out onto one of the bridges. He was in a black coat and the strangest mask and headgear I've ever seen. He was holding a girl. All three of us noticed her scent at around the same time. Lunar flowers…

The man stopped and looked over to Kiba and Hige.

"Wolves, you have my gratitude for it was you who woke her."

"What? Who the hell are you?" Kiba yelled.

"The Flower Maiden is mine."

"The Maiden? Is that…Cheza?" Hige asked no one in particular.

The man held Cheza up by what looked to be her hair or that collar thing. She screamed letting out an awful high pitched noise. There was a bright light and the man started to speak again.

"We'll meet in Paradise. If we meet again that is."

Kiba ran toward them but just like that the noise, the light, and he along with Cheza were gone. Hige uncovered his ears and a second later the power in the building came back on. They stared at the place the man was before deciding to move on.

Eventually we made it out of the building for the second time. Kiba and Hige then took to the sewers. Hige started complaining a few minutes in.

"Where are we going? Places like this are rough on my delicate nose ya know."

"I got a hunch there's food down here… just a hunch."

Some rats scurried by at their feet. They both ate quite a few and I did as well. They weren't as good as a deer or elk but they were definitely better than hot dogs. Hige once again broke the silence.

"Looks like that guy stole the only clue we had, and the scent of lunar flowers is gone now too."

"Hige, he knew about Paradise. That's why he took her."

"Well, we'll just have to find another flower. She can't be the only one around right?"

"That man knew us. He saw what we were the minute he looked at us."

"Why don't we blow this town? Come on let's look for Paradise."

"He'll meet us there, that's what he said."

Hige sweat dropped, "He said a lot of crazy stuff. Listen, if you're thinking of going after him, you're out of your mind. He's a Noble if I've ever seen one."

"A Noble?"

"I keep forgetting you're new here. Look, those guys are bad news, and I for one am smart enough not to mess around with them. Trust me Kiba, just, let it go. Forget about him." Hige said as he laid down for the night.

The look on Kiba's face told me that wasn't going to happen.

The next morning the walked around underground for a while before they started to climb a ladder to the surface. I came up close by and was on a roof top when Hige poked his head out of a manhole. They had surfaced in an alleyway. The dark brown pup with the bracelet on looked up in surprise when he saw Hige.

"Uh-oh must have taken a wrong turn." He looked around before he finally noticed the pup. "Heh-hey! It's one of our own!"

From below him I heard Kiba, "Move it will ya." He said as he shoved Hige out of the hole. "That's the last time I trust your nose."

"Well anyone's nose would go numb after a night in that stink hole!"

The pup spoke up then. "You guys, no way, you-you're-!"

Kiba turned to the pup, then looked past him to a girl. When the pup looked at her she froze up and started shaking. The pup started talking to her trying to console her but the look of fear never left her face. She started calling for her dad. Kiba and Hige took off with the pup in tow. The two had vanished into a pipe before the pup could round the corner. When he got there and saw the two gone he panicked, before turning into a human as the girl rounded the corner.

He talked to her and still she was afraid. He got frustrated and reached for her but then pulled back when she screamed and fell. Hige then popped out of one of the pipes and got the pup's attention. He gave one last look at the girl before following Hige.

The girl's father then found her and the drunk old man was soon after him. Oddly enough the dog wasn't with him.

I followed the three into the sewers once more, Hige once again complaining.

"I told you I hate smelly places." He said as they rounded a corner.

The pup slowed and Hige noticed.

"Hey runt, what's eating you?"

The pup looked up with an indignant pout on his face, "I'm not a runt! And my name's Toboe."

"That's cool. Well I'm Hige and this here's Kiba."

"Where are we headed anyway?"

"Where do you think? To the exit of course."

"To the exit?"

"We're leaving town," Kiba said, speaking for the first time.

"You're leaving town? But where else are you gunna go?"

"To Paradise," Kiba answered.

"Paradise…" Toboe stopped. "Hey guys, do you know Tsume?"

"Tsume… nah never heard of him." Hige said.

"Is he the one with the scar on his chest?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, that's Tsume alright." He smiled.

"Okay, what about him?"

Toboe's face fell. "He's one of us so I thought he might wanna leave too."

Hige turned fully to Toboe. "Well I don't know him. Where is he? Hiding out some place?"

Kiba noticed blood on the cement and went to look at it.

"I don't know, we got split up." Toboe answered.

"Sorry pal, but it's too late to go back for him now. So what, is he like a friend of yours?"

"N-no he's not! He isn't my friend…"

"So, ditch him already." Hige said as he turned around and walked past Kiba. "Shake a leg Runt."

"That's Toboe!"

Kiba stood up and followed and eventually took the lead again. He lead them to where I suspected Tsume was.

They walked into a building and on the top floor Kiba opened a door and lo and behold, Tsume was there sitting on the floor holding his bleeding arm. Tsume stood as the other three wolves entered the room. And as always Hige has to voice his opinion.

"What a crap heap, why the hell'd you bring us here?"

"Tsume," Toboe said as soon as he spotted the gray wolf.

Hige looked back and forth between Toboe and Tsume. "Wha- hey, is this him?"

Kiba spoke up then, "I could smell the blood from your wound."

"What?" Tsume said with a slight growl to his voice.

"I smelled it all the way here from town."

"And you're gunna nurse me back to health? Well I don't need your help."

"Tsume, look I-We're leaving the city. I really think you should come with us."

"And just where is this merry band of yours going?"

"To Paradise," Kiba answered.

Tsume gave a short, humorless laugh. "You're kidding me. You're going with them because you believe in that crap?"

"I don't know but if we stay here we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in hiding or worse. We just can't live with the humans anymore and survive."

Hige had moved against the wall looking out the window and decided to cut in. "Look I hate to interrupt but a nasty stink is headed this way."

"We're surrounded." Tsume said.

Kiba spoke again. "Let me ask you, why did you guys come to this city? It was because of the flower scent wasn't it? Well it's gone now. There's no reason to stay."

"The flower has nothing to do with it. I'm here because I belong." Tsume responded.

"I can see that, this city is a dump." Kiba retorted.

"I still have a score to settle with you." Tsume said heading toward Kiba.

"We don't have time for this!" Hige said in the background.

Tsume ignored him. "The last time we met you said something about how your pride wouldn't allow you to pass as a human. You look pretty human now. Where'd your pride go?" Tsume taunted.

"No where. Nothing has changed." Kiba responded coolly.

"Do you have the slightest idea of what leaving the city would mean?"

"Yeah."

"You'll just die."

"Possibly, everyone's gunna die, it's a natural part of life. But if life has no purpose you're dead already."

Just then the soldiers below turned on search lights aimed at the windows. They chose to postpone the conversation and focus on escaping. They ran on some pipes connecting the buildings while avoiding gunfire. Toboe slipped and was holding on by a smaller piece that looked like it wasn't going to hold very long. I was about to jump in when Tsume went back for him. They sat there for a minute before the gunfire picked up again.

Tsume jumped down to a different pipe and disappeared. The three continued on. Once they passed out into an open space they used two over hangs to reach a higher platform. There Kiba stopped and waited.

"What the hell you stopping for?" Hige asked.

Kiba only looked in the direction they came from. And sure enough Tsume came out into the open.

"Tsume!" Toboe smiled.

Tsume stopped and locked eyes with Kiba for a minute before Kiba moved off again. They finally reached the edge of the city and Kiba jumped without hesitation, falling for about 100 feet or so and landing perfectly. Hige was right behind him. Toboe stopped when he saw the drop. Hige called to him and Toboe responded before Tsume kicked him off. He landed none too gently.

That drunkard hopped out of a newly arrived vehicle and started shooting at Tsume. Kiba said something and Tsume smirked and responded before jumping off.

I stood at the top, risking being shot as I waited for the four to get far enough away. Hubb wrestled with the drunk for his gun and I jumped right as he finally took the gun from the old man.

I followed in the snowstorm. Tsume looked back one last time before following the others. We passed through blizzards, deserts, and the most barren lands you can imagine. They eventually stopped in a cave to rest. Toboe and Hige complained and when Tsume joined in it turned to bickering.

All of a sudden Hige bolted out of the cave and into the snow. The other three eventually followed. When they caught up to him he was looking at a dead deer. I hid behind a rock about 100 yards out. My stomach growled and I winced. I probably wouldn't be getting any of that deer.

Tsume stood back and they bickered some more before he finally left. Toboe ran after him. Those two are good for each other even if one didn't want to admit it.

Hige and Kiba kept eating and when they had finished all but a haunch Kiba told Hige they were leaving. Hige protested, complaining about the unfinished kill but eventually left.

I couldn't believe it. Even now, when he had other friends, he left me some of the kill. He had started doing that ever since he found out I was following him. When he figured out that I was there to help him. I don't know why he started it but I'm grateful all the same.

As the moon rose the two laid out under it, absorbing the light. Hige started talking. He suggested they leave Tsume and Toboe behind but Kiba wanted to give him a chance. Hige questioned his past but Kiba just gave him a vague answer and Hige reluctantly left the subject alone.

After a couple hours they continued on, looking for Tsume and Toboe. Kiba suddenly stopped when we both heard an explosion behind us. Then Hige piped up when he smelled gunpowder and grease carried to him by the wind. Kiba continued walking forward until he stepped on something. They both bent down to look at it and then Kiba stood up and walked toward me. I went behind a rock until they passed and then followed. They took off sprinting when they could hear gunfire. When we got to the scene Tsume couldn't move due to his injured leg and a big machine towered over him. It was about to fire when Kiba let out a battle howl and jumped to Tsume's defense.

Kiba grabbed onto one of the sensors it used to see. It threw him off and he did a flip and landed on his feet before running off in the opposite direction. It followed shooting at him all the while. A bullet grazed his right elbow. I jumped in and tore some of the wires, disabling some of its bigger guns. The top part of it rotated throwing me off. It shot at me and I ran to distract it while Kiba jammed a huge icicle into the machine gun it had been using. He jumped off just as it slipped off the edge of a cliff. We both watched it from different locations on the ice cliffs above it. It got up and started shooting at Kiba again. I ran the other way and found a dam of ice holding back a huge wall of water and threw a rock big enough to crack it and unleash the water behind it. I ran along the top following the water to make sure that Kiba was out of the way. He was at the top of the cliff looking down at the machine which had ran out of ammunition. The wall of water rounded the bend and the machine turned to watch as the water swept it away.

Kiba turned to me and nodded his thanks before we both followed the water to see if the machine was really done for. When it finally broke out of the ice it moved just a little before going still and not moving again. When Kiba looked to me again I was already gone. He left the machine and wandered back to the group.

Hige was the first to acknowledge him.

"Hey you okay?"

"It's only a scratch." He replied.

"Yeah, right. Ever since I met you guys… nothing but trouble."

"I knew it, well I wasn't sure but, I had a feeling you guys would come for us." Toboe said with a small smile.

"Well don't get too used to it kid." Hige responded.

"I didn't ask for help! Why would you do that? Risk your life for me? And don't try telling me, that it's because we're friends." Tsume asked, still not looking at anyone.

"That's easy, it was just instinct." Kiba responded.

Tsume slowly got to his feet and staggered a little. Toboe immediately went to help him. Tsume looked back at Kiba and then continued walking with a little help from Toboe. Kiba followed as soon as Tsume turned around. And then Hige walked up beside Kiba.

"Who was that other wolf? And where did he go?" Hige asked softly.

"Don't worry about him. He won't hurt us. And I'm sure he's around here somewhere." Kiba answered.

Hige nodded and went silent. Kiba let Hige pass him. Kiba stopped and turned around, surveying the landscape, looking to see if I would appear. When he didn't see me he turned back around and started walking again.

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><p>Well, that's chapter two... chapters three or four will have more of Gin in them I promise. And just to be clear Gin is a boy. I know I don't say it really yet but I just wanted to put it down. And well ya... I hope you like it so far.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

It just wouldn't stop snowing. Regardless of how far or how fast we ran it just kept on snowing all day and for most of the night. And yet we made good distance that day.

By morning I had to dig my way out of the burrow I was in. The others were also beginning to stir by then. The clouds had finally cleared and the sky was nice and blue and the sun warmed my fur. And then we were running again. For a wolf, there's no feeling like it. When you're running all you feel is peace and overwhelming happiness, as corny as that sounds.

We stopped around midday to rest and Toboe was talking about a dream that he'd had the night before. Of what Paradise was like. Hige, course couldn't help but tease him, asking if he'd ever seen a lunar flower. Kiba just quietly smiled the whole time.

And then we're moving. In the early evening the clouds came back and completely covered the sky and it started snowing again. We had slowed to a walk for a while. When they topped a hill they stopped, looking out at something, before moving on again.

When I came to stand on the hill I saw they were looking at the ocean. They had just started on a long bridge that stretched into the horizon. The wind and snow was even worse on the flat surface of the water. We followed the bridge for the rest of the day.

They stopped in front of me before Toboe took off running. Kiba and Hige followed shortly after and Tsume a second later. In the distance you could see something but I don't think any of us expected what we saw once we got there. It was a dump of a city on an island. We jumped the outer wall and entered the city seeing no one at all. When we did finally see some people they hid.

And then we ran into something we didn't expect to see in a crap heap like that. A wolf pack. And they even had a female. The leader stood to confront the four.

"Where're you boys from?"

"A city to the north." Kiba answered.

"Why are you here?"

"Just passing through. You don't expect us to do business here, in a dump like this?" Leave it to Tsume to run his mouth. Sure the guy was tough but a short answer would have worked just as well.

"Well then where you going?"

"Where are we going?" Hige echoed.

"To Paradise." Toboe answered honestly, albeit with an attitude.

The other wolves froze, but then their leader started laughing and they all joined in except for the woman.

"Kiba why are they laughing?" Toboe asked.

"Because they obviously don't know anything about Paradise."

The wolves stopped laughing.

"We know all about it." The leader spoke with nothing but hate in his voice.

"It's nothing but a stupid legend." Another wolf told them.

"A legend?" Toboe asked.

"That's right kid. There's no such thing as Paradise." The same wolf replied.

"What makes you say that?" Kiba questioned.

"Maybe because we've been there. We've all seen it. And I'm telling you it wasn't Paradise. That place was more like Hell." He answered.

"Well that's no surprise." Tsume said.

"You'll all find out soon enough. You'll see that Paradise isn't worth looking for. Now why don't you all just get lost. You do have somewhere you belong don't you?" The leader taunted.

Tsume walked off without another word. Hige followed and Toboe kept Kiba from sticking around and getting himself into trouble. I stuck around long enough to hear that the leader's name was Xali.

When I caught up to the other's they were sitting looking out across the ocean. They got up and walked off talking. They had decided to stick around in the city to see why so many wolves were in this crummy city.

They ended up in what looked like the city's graveyard. As they were walking through an older wolf popped up out of a hole. Toboe and Hige both screamed in surprise and fell.

Kiba asked if he knew of any lunar flowers in the city. The old man told them of how they used to bloom all over the island but then they were all dug up and not one remains. He led them to a tunnel that had been mostly boarded up, save for a space where a wolf could squeeze through, and he said it was the entrance.

Hige covered his nose after scenting what came out of it. Kiba, of course, was undeterred and started walking toward it until the old man stopped him. And then Xali appeared. He threatened the four and told them to leave by dawn, and then he left with the old man.

Kiba and the others chose the ruins of an old building to stay in. Tsume challenged Kiba again on his belief. And then that female showed up with a bag of food. Kiba left with Toboe in tow. I heard the woman introduce herself as Koal before I left to follow Kiba. Toboe returned to the building.

Kiba took to the city just walking around. He passed by that pack and the one that had said they'd been to Paradise couldn't help but to run his mouth. And the others joined in, jeering and taunting Kiba. He stopped walking of course.

"What are you guys doing? Just standing around with no purpose?" Kiba said back.

"What'd you say?" The ringleader said like it was Kiba who was the problem.

"I know why you weren't able to get to Paradise. You're nothing but a pack of dogs."

"Why you little punk." They all moved toward Kiba

They lunged at him and he fought well for a while but he began to tire. When they started to really get him I stepped in. I threw them off and allowed him to escape. Once Kiba was gone I left.

I found him curled up in an alleyway half asleep. I sat down next to him and started cleaning his wounds. He let me and soon he was asleep. I stayed with him the entire night.

When he started to wake the next morning I took to the rooftops, leaving a little bit of food I managed to get the night before. He looked at it, then looked around before eating it. He then got up and started walking toward the station.

When he got there and saw the wolves pulling those carts he just lost it. Xali stopped him before Kiba could do any real harm.

The pack took the old man from last night and buried him. Kiba and the others followed. Xali reminded them that they weren't supposed to interfere. Kiba being Kiba spoke his mind and said what all five of us were thinking.

After the old man was buried the local pack left. The four returned to the building they were in last night. Toboe found some herbs and was pressing them into Kiba's wounds, while the other two sat watching. Kiba, who had been lightly sleeping woke up and tried getting up. Toboe pushed him back down to rest and he closed his eyes again. Tsume made Hige get food since he was the one who ate it all and Toboe left to get more herbs for Kiba.

Tsume stayed with Kiba, sitting in the doorway to the stone building. He eventually got restless and got up. Kiba woke up then and Tsume looked over at him.

"Hey, you know we've wasted a hell of a lot of time because of you." Tsume said crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. Kiba looked the other way. "The others have gone off to look for food. What were you up to last night? I know you didn't get all those wounds at the station… not like I care or anything."

Kiba didn't say anything at first but then he surprised us both by talking about his past.

"I saw them once before, when I was little. I was still just a cub. In the region where I was born they had blossomed all over."

"What are you talking about?"

"White flowers that only bloomed under a full moon. They were lunar flowers. They were all burnt to ashes."

Tsume turned fully to him. "What the hell brought this on?"

Kiba kept talking like Tsume hadn't even said anything. "A fire raged across our land. It burned all the flowers in an instant. And all- all my friends who's escape routes were cut off were killed. I was the only one who survived… Why me? Why just me? I don't have a pack anymore. The only place for me now… is Paradise."

Tsume just stood there with a contemplative look on his face. He didn't say anything now.

In the distance all three of us heard something metallic. Kiba sat up slowly and put his shirt and jacket back on before standing up.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tsume questioned.

"I'm alright, I can move now."

Then Toboe rushed through the door. "Kiba! Are you alright?"

"Yeah… sorry. You're by yourself?"

"Where's Porky?"

"That's just it! He got caught in this really big trap and then they took him away somewhere!"

"All he has to do is fool the humans who caught him and then he can get away." Tsume said, not worried.

"But he can't! He was knocked out by those wolves that we saw, the ones that live here."

"Why the hell would they do something like that?" Tsume shouted. "Where were they headed?"

"I don't know!"

"Why didn't you give us a warning by howling? And what are you doing here anyway? You should have followed them!" Tsume pointed at him.

"Oh yeah you're right…"

Kiba stumbled forward. "Let's go."

"Where to?" Tsume asked.

"The city."

They walked out but Kiba was still injured and was a bit slow.

"This is taking forever!" Tsume growled before hoisting Kiba onto his shoulder.

"Hey cut it out!" Kiba yelled in surprise.

"Hurry!" Toboe urged. "If we don't, they're gunna kill him!"

They ran off into the city and I followed along the rooftops. After a few minutes Kiba spoke up.

"Tsume you can put me down. I can walk on my own now."

Tsume looked over his shoulder at him before stopping and putting him down. Kiba leaned against a wall for a minute while Tsume worked his shoulder.

"Right, let's get a move on," Tsume said before they all noticed Koal entering an alley. They followed her and found most of the pack around the corner. One of the wolves spoke up, talking to Kiba.

"Well now, looks like last night's beating didn't sink in."

Tsume looked over at Kiba. Then Xali walked up behind Kiba and the other two. The pack immediately went quiet.

"Xali…" Koal whispered.

"You mean you ordered this?" Tsume growled.

"Ordered what?"

"Don't play dumb!" Tsume shouted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Is it true what we heard? That you sold out our friend to those humans?" Kiba asked in a much calmer tone.

"Just how low will you mongrels sink!" Tsume growled.

"What's going on here?" Xali questioned his pack.

"Hell if I know." The one replied.

Toboe spoke up then. "That guy said to kill him! I _heard_ you tell those humans to kill him!" Toboe shouted at the man.

"Moss," Xali addressed him in a very angry tone.

Moss stiffened. Kiba moved forward before he was shoved out of the way and against a wall by Xali. Xali then proceeded to punch Moss, knocking him flat. He then turned to Kiba.

"This is my pack!" He turned back to Moss. "Why in the hell did you sell out their friend?"

"He's an outsider, that's why." Moss said as he stood up and rubbed his jaw.

Another wolf then spoke up. "Xali isn't it you who's been selling out your friends?"

"What?" Was Xali's unbelieving answer.

"It's the truth and you know it! You don't even do a dog's work." The same wolf replied.

"Is that how you really feel? I always thought as the leader I did what I had to do for the pack. Without letting my personal feelings get in my way. Everything I've done was to protect the pack."

"Yeah well none of us sees you as the leader any more!" Moss yelled before charging Xali.

Three of the wolves started beating on him and when Kiba tried to help Xali told him to stay back.

Eventually Koal couldn't listen to it anymore. "Stop it! Just stop it!"

Moss took notice. "That's enough. Enough!"

"Wait! Where did they take him? Tell me where they took their friend Moss."

"I don't know, I don't know!"

And with that the rest of the pack moved on. Koal ran to Xali's side and picked his head up. Tsume then walked up beside Kiba.

"You don't have any idea where they might have taken him?" Tsume asked.

"They had him on the back of an orange truck." Toboe supplied helpfully.

"If you plan to give up on Paradise and turn back, now might be the time." Xali told them.

"I don't have anywhere to go back to. The only thing I can do is keep moving forward." Kiba answered.

"Even if hell is what we're headed towards." Tsume spoke up, surprising everyone. "You people may not have been able to find Paradise, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind… that we will."

Xali got to his feet and led them off to where Hige might be. After a couple minutes they found the truck he was on and I watched as Xali and Kiba ran in front of the truck. It swerved and rolled onto its side, throwing the cage in the process.

Kiba bent the bars for Hige to escape while Xali distracted the humans. Once Hige was clear they all ran off. Xali took them to that tunnel and led them a ways inside before stopping and watching them run off.

I walked past him while following the others as he was headed out.

"Are you with those four?"

I nodded before sprinting after them. He shrugged his shoulders before continuing to the exit.

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><p>That's chapter 3... heh two chapters in one day... I need a life... Anyway there will definitely be more of Gin in chapter 4 but you'll just have to wait and see... :) Please review!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Please review! I want to know how I'm doing!

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><p>The tunnel let out into a wooded area. We trekked through it for a couple miles until we came to a small town in the middle of the forest. Almost immediately I sensed something was off. And by the way the others were cautiously looking around them, they felt it too. And then the small group was surrounded. They were surrounded by humans but there was still something dangerous about them. That said even wolves would have a hard time with.<p>

"Where're you boys from?" The leader asked.

"Here and there." Tsume answered.

"Why are you here?"

"Just passing through." Kiba responded.

"I don't think so." The leader said with a malicious smile. The group was instantly more wary of the men surrounding them. "You see we could use a few strong boys like you." He nodded his head and the men immediately advanced on the four. "Come nice and quietly and no one will get hurt."

"Like hell we will." Tsume growled as he swung at the closest guy.

The guy dodged and managed to land a well-placed kick to Tsume's stomach. Tsume jumped back, shocked.

"You see, my boys here aren't ordinary men. They were trained for fighting, they live for it." The leader smiled again.

And then it all went to hell. I could see that they were having a hard time. They weren't used to humans being able to fight. I jumped in and took out a guy that was about to kill Toboe. And then took out three more before anyone could even register I was there. I hadn't fought in my human body in a long time so it was a bit weird at first but I was soon up to my regular speed.

The men were now targeting me primarily. The four took advantage of the distraction and took out as many as they could from outside the circle that surrounded me while I attacked from the inside. There were too many for me to accurately dodge all attacks so I was covered in small cuts, gashes, and bruises by the time we finally managed to get them all.

I then turned my attention to the leader. Who was glaring furiously at me. I charged in for a punch to the gut but he surprised me by blocking. He grabbed my hand and threw me back. I did a back flip and landed on my feet. I rushed in again and threw several punches and kicks. He dodged them all and threw some of his own. I blocked with my arms as he aimed a kick at my chest. I tucked in and did a few flips before landing with him right there. I did a back flip barely avoiding a hit to my face. I used the momentum in my flip to try and kick him as my feet followed my body through the flip. He dodged and I did a couple more flips so I was at a safe distance away. I noticed some throwing knives on the ground next to me and I grabbed them before jumping into the air as the leader charged me. I threw the knives and one hit is right upper thigh. I charged in and threw a kick that he dodged. He then threw a barrage of punches and kicks. I used one of his kicks to get him off balance. He fell and I finished him off before he could recover.

When I stood back up the group of four was looking at me. Kiba had no surprise on his face at all but look on the other three's faces was absolutely priceless. Tsume, of course, recovered first.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Don't worry about it Tsume. He won't hurt us and he doesn't talk." Kiba answered.

Tsume frowned, glaring at me. "Why has he been following us?"

"I don't really know since he won't talk but whenever I'm about to lose a fight or get seriously injured he always jumps in."

"So he's protecting you?" Toboe asked.

"Something like that." Kiba answered.

During the time that they were talking they had turned away from me and I slipped away. I heard Kiba yell after me. They followed the blood trail I had left, trying to find me.

Since he was actually trying to track me this time, instead of just letting me go, I figured I would let him catch me.

I led them out of town and away from the possibility of more danger there. I stopped when I found a river. I washed the blood off in it as I waited for them to catch up.

I stepped out of the river and took my blue sweatshirt and black t-shirt off and rung them out. I laid them out on a rock to dry. I then shook my head to get rid of the access water. I ran my fingers through and scratched at my scalp before shaking my head again.

I heard leaves crunch and looked up to see four pairs of eyes watching me. They were standing just inside the tree line so I couldn't hear what Kiba said when he turned to the other three. I could guess what he said though, when the three walked off leaving Kiba.

Kiba walked into the clearing right up to me. He didn't say anything as he looked over all the various wounds and old scars that he could see on my arms and torso. I watched with silent curiosity as he slowly reached out a hand to gently touch a gash on my left side. I didn't twitch or move away. He walked around, looking at my back, touching an old scar there before continuing back around to face me. His hand was still on my arm when he looked up at me. It then seemed to dawn on him what he had been doing and he quickly removed his hand and looked away.

"Sorry…"

I gave a small smile.

He looked back up to me. "You should travel with us, you know. You don't have to keep disappearing after a fight. And now that the others know you're here it would be a good idea so they don't get weary of you. Especially Tsume."

I nodded. I walked over to the rock and grabbed my shirt off it and put it on and then my sweat shirt. They were still damp but I didn't care. They would dry soon enough. I walked back over to him and then we went to find rest. We found them further downstream, relaxing by the water. They looked up when they saw us and all eyes went to me.

"So since he won't talk, are you going to us at least a little about him?" Hige asked.

Kiba looked to me and when I gave a small nod he turned back to the group.

"I don't know much about him either. I've been calling him Gin. All I really know is that he's there when I need him and he is one hell of a fighter. Everything that I know about fighting came from watching him." Kiba told them.

"So he's just been following you?" Tsume asked as he glared at me.

"Yeah, it took me about a month to realize he was there."

"How do we know that he won't turn on us? He may not hurt you, but how about the rest of us?" Tsume growled.

"I don't think he will." Everyone turned to Toboe. "Back in the town, when we were fighting… he saved me. I was about to be killed and he jumped in and saved me." Everyone looked at me again. "Just give him a chance Tsume." Toboe urged.

"Fine, but I get to kill him if he turns." Tsume growled as he stomped off.

Hige followed Tsume. Kiba glanced at me before going after the two. Toboe walked up beside me and grabbed my hand, pulling me forward.

"Don't worry about Tsume, Gin. He just needs some time to get used to you is all." Toboe smiled reassuringly at me.

I gave a soft smile in return and let him pull me along.

A couple hours later found us in the same never-ending forest. Kiba was in the lead with Hige not too far behind him. Tsume and Toboe were walking side-by-side and I couldn't help but smile. Toboe really adored Tsume and it surprised me how well Tsume put up with it, especially considering the temper he had.

I was walking a couple feet behind the pack. I was trying to give Tsume some space since he was so clearly displeased with my presence. He would glance back at me every so often. I paid it no mind.

Despite the urgency of the quest we were on I took the calm time that we currently had to enjoy myself a little. I looked to the forest around me. Taking in everything I could. I looked up. The sky was blue with not a cloud in the sky.

"I was thinking, I haven't smelled the flower at all since we left that cave… I wonder if this is really the right way…" Toboe voiced quietly.

"You want to give us a clue here?" Tsume asked Kiba.

"Sure," came the simple reply.

"Where exactly are we headed?"

"To Paradise."

"And just what in the hell is guiding you there?"

"I'm going on instinct."

The other three stopped.

"Here we go again. I just wish at least it felt like we were getting closer, not that I'm complaining or anything." Hige sighed.

Kiba stopped and looked up, right as a high-pitched noise started. Everyone looked up.

"That noise…" Tsume growled.

"It's an airship. It must be one of the Nobles." Hige said.

"Ugh, I hate that sound." Toboe covered his ears.

We watched as a small craft took fire from a much larger ship. The smaller dodged nimbly and a field deflected any that it couldn't. A few beams struck the ground, shaking the earth. Toboe gave a surprised scream and grabbed Hige's arm for balance.

"What's going on?" Toboe asked.

"Man they're really going at it…" Hige commented.

"She's there…" Kiba whispered.

Kiba started walking off.

"Hold it, it's nothing to do with us, stay out of it!" Tsume yelled.

I walked past all three of them to Kiba. I felt something, but what I couldn't tell you. Kiba felt it too.

"I can feel it…"

"Feel what?" Hige asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's so familiar…" Kiba looked back at the group. "Come on, don't you guys feel anything at all?" Kiba yelled before running in the direction of the airship with me close behind.

The others reluctantly followed. The smaller airship was struck down but we kept running. And then we all smelled it. The unmistakable scent of lunar flowers. A small light in the sky slowly descending onto a mountain top. It had to be a thousand feet to the top. At least. We ran full speed toward it. As soon as we were at the base we started climbing.

Half way up Hige sniffed the air. "The scent is faint, but it's up there."

"Why in the hell are you so worked up?" Tsume asked Kiba.

Hige sniffed the air again. "Aw man, its got the stink of a Noble mixed in there too."

Tsume turned to Hige. "A Noble?" And then he started climbing again.

"Hey Kiba! I got this fluttery feeling in my chest… is that what you meant?" Toboe asked.

Kiba nodded. "Let's go."

Once we reached the top we trekked through yet another forest. This one looking slightly more debilitated.

"I don't know why but my heart is pounding and I feel all warm and tingly inside." Toboe smiled with a light blush tinting his cheeks.

"Hmm… this is that cool feeling you get before pouncing on a pretty girl." Hige piped in.

"Don't let your guard down… but there's a shiver up my spine too." Tsume looked around him.

Kiba said nothing. He just kept walking until we reached a clearing. We all stopped at the edge looking out at a mountain top lake with a water fall and everything. And a couple feet in the water was a large stone. And there on top, with her feet in the water, was Cheza. She looked up with a small smile on her face.

"It's her, it's really her." Hige breathed.

"My heart just skipped a beat." Toboe smiled putting a hand to his chest.

"Who is that?" Tsume questioned.

Cheza stood up and Kiba immediately started walking toward her.

"Hold on-" Tsume started before I put my arm out to stop him. He looked at me but said nothing.

We watched as Kiba walked into the water and up to her. She bent down and ran her hands through his fur before kneeling and hugging him.

"Aw, I want to be held like that…" Toboe sighed with a dreamy smile on his face.

"Can that really be?" Tsume asked.

"Yeah, that's her. That's the Flower Maiden." Hige smiled.

We waited for them as they stepped out of the water and over to us. Cheza and Kiba were holding hands as she led him and us back off into the woods. I followed first, then Hige, and then Toboe and Tsume.

She turned back to us waving her arm. "This way, this way!"

"That's Cheza alright. That's the Flower Maiden." Hige sighed happily.

"She's a flower and a maiden? That's pretty weird." Toboe smiled.

"Well the way I heard it some Nobles with too much time on their hands made her from a lunar flower in a lab somewhere." Hige responded.

"They made a human from a flower? Gimme a break, you really believe all that?" Tsume snorted.

"Come on she's standing right there isn't she?" Hige asked.

"Yeah and she smells nice too. Like a flower." Toboe supplied helpfully.

"Smell or no smell, I don't trust any of this."

"Even though your heart skipped a beat too?" Asked Toboe.

"Well I for one believe it. I mean just think about it. As crazy as it seemed at the time, Kiba led us straight to this place on instinct or whatever you wanna call it, right? Even if it is some big coincidence at least it finally feels like we're one step closer." Hige explained.

"It sure does." Toboe agreed.

Tsume stayed silent.

"Well either way you look at it she's really not my type at all. It's such a bummer." Hige smiled, seemingly not too disappointed, despite his words.

Cheza led us into one of the old abandoned buildings. She stopped in the doorway of a room and ran inside.

"Everybody! This One's home!" She stopped in the middle seeming to realize that nothing was alive in that room. Kiba walked up behind her. "Oh my, there is… no one here anymore. They… they all withered and died." She squatted, putting her arms around her knees. "This One… is the only one left."

And then Hige and Toboe rushed into the room as gunfire sounded.

"Kiba, we're in serious trouble! I smell humans all over the place!" Hige told him.

"I think we're surrounded." Toboe supplied.

Tsume ran in then and looked accusingly at Cheza. She turned around, shocked. Tsume looked shocked that she knew what he was thinking before Kiba stepped in front of her.

"No, it wasn't her!" Kiba defended.

"Come on guys, we don't have time for this! We have to escape!" Toboe tried to stop the fight.

"Whaddya mean escape? We're surrounded! Where the hell are we supposed to go?" Hige shouted.

Cheza got to her feet and walked off silently with Kiba in tow. I followed as the other three yelled after us. Tsume and Hige ran off the other way while Toboe followed us. As we walked up to a cross section a soldier came around the corner. Kiba took him out while I took down another that had come along. Toboe protected Cheza while we tried to get to two soldiers hiding at the end of a hallway. I was about to move when the gunfire stopped. We looked around the corner and Tsume and Hige were standing above the soldiers.

I followed Toboe and Cheza as she walked down a hallway. Toboe went back to get the others.

As soon as they looked into the hall she turned around. "This way."

That was all that was needed for Kiba as he ran past me to catch up to her. I looked back at the others before following Kiba. I heard the others follow a second later. We surrounded her with Kiba in the lead, me and Tsume on the sides, and Hige and Toboe guarding the rear.

Kiba killed a soldier as we passed an opening and when I looked down I saw a lot of soldiers. And then we were past the hole and still running. We ran into a room with what looked to be no outlet.

"What the hell?" Hige exclaimed.

"It's no use, there's no way we can get out of here!" Toboe whined, looking around.

"We could always try surrendering…" Hige suggested before Tsume shot him a death glare. He threw up his hands in defense. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

While everyone else was looking around for a way out I watched as Cheza put her hand on some roots. Her hand started glowing and right in front of my eyes the roots parted revealing a hidden passage way.

She turned to us. "This way."

"Where did that giant hole come from?" Toboe questioned.

Without another word Kiba followed Cheza into the passage with me close behind. The others soon followed. As soon as we were all in the roots moved back into place covering the entrance.

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><p>There you see? Now Gin is part of the pack! As far as Gin's looks go I've been picturing something like a teenage Kakashi... without the mask obviously. He's wearing dark blue jeans with some dark converse too, since I didn't mention that. He has dark blue eyes too. You'll get more on his past in either chapter 5 or 6... I haven't decided yet and I hope you keep reading to find out! :)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Slowly we made our way back down the mountain side. It was considerably more difficult considering we had to avoid being caught. I watched as Cheza nearly walked off the edge before turning and continuing down the path. She stopped about ten feet from Hige and Toboe.

"I wonder if she's on edge, I mean around us. But why?" Toboe wondered.

"It's because you're all on edge around her, that's why." Kiba answered.

"Who the hell wouldn't be on edge? She's not a human and she's not a wolf. Or even a flower. How are we ever supposed to trust something like that? And even more so because a Noble created it." Tsume complained.

Kiba didn't say anything and we continued on in silence for a while. But once again Tsume voiced his dislike of Cheza.

"Are we really gunna take her with us?"

"Yeah," Kiba answered.

"What for?"

"Well I don't see anything wrong with it, it'd be mean to just leave her here. And besides, I think it'd be kinda nice to always have the smell of lunar flowers around, don't you?" Toboe reasoned.

"Isn't that exactly what makes her a danger to us?" Tsume asked. Kiba stopped and turned around to look at Tsume. "If she stinks up the place while we're moving around it's as good as giving away our location." Tsume insisted.

"A human's sense of smell isn't that sensitive." Kiba pointed out.

"But my eyes tell me she's trouble. What good is she to us anyway?"

"Cheza is more important to us than anything else. And if you're a wolf, Tsume, you should know this." Kiba retorted.

"Sorry but I don't."

"She's gunna get us to Paradise!" Kiba snarled.

"I am so sick of hearing that word."

And then Cheza started singing. We all turned to see her standing in the moonlight with her head tilted up toward the moon.

Toboe fell against the wall and slid down it. "All of a sudden I'm feeling really sleepy." He mumbled as he laid down.

"Dammit Toboe! Don't fall asleep!" Tsume yelled.

"Too late… my body's already out cold." And then he was out.

Hige was next.

Tsume turned to Kiba. "What's happening?"

"I have no idea what's going on. I just…" And then Kiba was asleep.

Tsume slid down a wall before he finally gave in. Before I fell asleep I helped Cheza move the four under a tree. I laid them out in a circle around her before finally laying down behind her and falling into the black.

The next morning we left to do a bit of reconnaissance. We left Tsume with Cheza since he wouldn't wake up and then hit the markets. Toboe and Hige were assigned to get food while Kiba and I looked for a safe passage off the mountain.

Kiba and I returned to find a very disgruntled Tsume.

"It's no use. Those people are covering every road that leads off the mountain. We're gunna have to find another way out of here."

Tsume walked up to Kiba. "Next time don't leave it here with me. I'm not gunna be responsible."

"I tried to wake you up but you didn't budge. Besides you seemed pretty happy, wherever you were."

"Oh shut up! I was tired that's all!" Tsume snapped before walking off.

About an hour later Toboe and Hige came running up the path.

"Wow, that was rough!" Hige exclaimed.

"We're back," Toboe panted.

"You two sure took a long time." Kiba said.

"The runt here kept wandering off. Here! Some food." Hige threw a bag at Kiba who caught it.

"We picked up some other things too." Toboe held up a fur coat.

"What the hell do you plan to do with that?" Tsume asked.

"Whaddya think? It's a present!" Toboe walked up to Cheza and put it around her shoulders. "Here!" Her face fell a little. "I guess you don't like it?"

"It sure looks that way." Kiba said.

"What'd I tell ya? Now these are great!" Hige said as he walked up and put some pink boots in front of her.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tsume chuckled.

She put them on as soon as he stepped back. She got up and started laughing and spinning around in circles. She looked at Hige in thanks.

"You like 'em huh?" He smiled.

She continued dancing around in them before she stopped with a look of surprised fear on her face.

"Cheza." Kiba said worriedly and then turned to the direction she was looking in.

There in the trail was an old lady.

"Who are you?" Cheza asked softly.

The old lady didn't answer but instead walked closer toward Cheza. When Kiba deemed it too close he stepped in front of her.

The old lady stopped. "You are wolves."

"Old lady, who are you?" Kiba asked.

She took off the glasses that she had on and opened her eyes. They were like Cheza's. They were the same.

"Tell us, who are you?" Kiba asked again.

"The Hanabito is what they used to call us."

"This One could tell that from your scent. But you are not like This One?" Cheza asked.

"That is true. You are not like my kind. You are a perfect creation."

"Perfect creation?" Kiba echoed.

"You must know I have been here waiting for you for a long time."

And then we all scented humans surrounding us.

"They're here." Kiba stated.

"I have a feeling we shouldn't hang out here any longer." Tsume said, stating the obvious.

The old lady can move faster than you'd think as she led us through the woods. She led us to a door in a big tree and opened it. We all ran in and she entered closing it behind her. The old lady let Cheza sit in the only nice chair while she herself sat on a stool. The five of us stood around the walls.

"I felt them within my body. The terrible events that occurred. And those hanabito who were the unfortunate and imperfect ones, had no choice but to wither and die. I was fortunate enough to escape from the castle. In the forest, at the foot of the mountain, I stayed in hiding for a long, long time. And before I knew it, I was left all alone. Even if you know nothing about yourself, I do. I know you very well indeed."

"All this time This One has been asleep and waiting. Waiting just for him."

"The wolf seeks out the flower and the flower seeks out the wolf. And yet, no matter how you feel, you must not go with them."

"But why?" Cheza asked softly.

"It will only lead to destruction."

"Are you crazy?" Kiba shouted.

"I'm not talking to you." The old lady snapped.

"Come on Cheza, let's go." Kiba said turning to look at her. However, she did not move.

"The faintest scent a flower can offer is all I have left now. And soon it too will fade completely."

"What should This One do then?"

"You have the ability to sustain the life of a hanabito. Stay here."

"Cheza, don't listen to her." Kiba pleaded.

"Wolf, just what precisely do hope to achieve by taking this precious girl with you?"

"To get to Paradise. We are going to Paradise." Cheza answered.

"Shh, be quiet." Tsume said.

We all heard footsteps and looked out to see a woman walking toward our hiding spot.

"I smelled her back at the castle. I know I've seen her before but I don't know where." Hige told us.

"What now?" Tsume asked.

"Let's go. Cheza, let's go." Kiba said.

We left through a back door and the four of us took to the trees while Kiba stayed with Cheza. We surrounded the woman and she looked scared, but determined.

"You're the boys I saw. Who are you? What's going on here?" And then she turned and saw Kiba and Cheza. "Cheza…"

Kiba took Cheza's hand and jumped with her to a ledge and looked back down at us. And then they disappeared. Before she could turn back to us, we were gone as well running off toward the city.

Once we were safely inside the city Cheza stopped. "She is crying. She will wither away."

"Do you mean the old lady?" Kiba asked and she nodded.

"Kiba, can This One stay with you? Is it alright that This One stays with you?"

"Cheza, you have to stay with us." Kiba answered.

She turned around. "Hige?"

He laughed. "Sure why not? When you're on a journey the more the merrier."

"Toboe?"

He smiled and nodded.

"Gin?"

I nodded as well.

"Tsume?"

We all held our breath.

He sighed. "Fine, you can tag along. If it gets us to where we're going, I can put up with ya."

After that we split up and moved through the marketplace. When we got out Cheza wanted to go to the old lady and try to heal her, so Kiba took her. We all waited outside when Cheza went in. She came back out shortly after and we were on our way again.

Traveling was a little tougher with her but we managed. Kiba and I took turns carrying her and she walked on her own too.

I noticed the direction we were heading in and it made me nervous. We were heading toward the city, and the people, I escaped from. As the city came into sight I started shaking minutely, but it was enough and Kiba noticed.

"Gin, are you okay? You've been acting kind of strange." Kiba asked.

I nodded but I know he didn't believe me, and some my anxiety must have been showing on my face. I dropped behind, not in any hurry to be in that city. But I could still hear the others.

"What's up with him?" Tsume asked.

"I don't know. I've never seen him act this way before. It probably has to do with that city." Kiba answered.

"He's usually so carefree… it's kind of scary to see him this way." Toboe said.

After that I wasn't paying attention to them anymore. We were in the city limits now. We walked toward the center of the city into the arena I knew was there. When we were in the center I stopped.

"Gin, what is-" Kiba was cut off by an unforgettable laugh.

I immediately tensed.

"Well would you look at that? Its number 13. And he has friends now." I looked up to the top of the arena to where I knew that bastard would be. "Boys, why don't we show them a warm welcome?"

Since I was closest I grabbed Cheza out of the way as an explosion separated our group. I pointed toward the bleachers when Kiba looked over at me. He nodded and took the others over there. I knew they would be safe there. I picked Cheza up onto my back and jumped away as more bombs went off. I eventually made it to where Kiba was waiting and handed off Cheza to him. She looked shaken but unharmed. I protected the small entry way as they made their way higher into the stands. Eight wolves cornered me against the wall.

"What do you think 13? They are my elite killing force. How about we make a bet? If they can kill you I get to keep your little friends, and if you win I'll let you live." I snarled in response. "Oh good, we have a deal then." He turned to the seven. "You heard him! Kill him!"

I jumped trying to get out of the corner. One threw some wire and it wrapped around me, causing me to slam into the ground. I cut it with a knife I carried and ran off as a barrage of weaponry was thrown at my heels. I dodged to the side and kicked one of them in the face. Another came up and gave me a roundhouse kick to the chest. I slid backward before running to the side. A bomb was thrown and I had to quickly duck and slide to avoid taking it directly. I stood again right as another wire wrapped around my throat. I was kicked into the air before they pulled me back down again by the wire. I cut it and pulled it off. Another came at me with a sword and I had to quickly dodge and block with my knife.

A large weapon was thrown at me from behind and I ducked and looked back at them. My eyes widened as a noticed a large number of bombs about to be thrown at me. I took off running but I wasn't fast enough. One right behind me blew up and sent me flying. I tumbled and rolled finally coming to a stop on my stomach. I slowly got up. I had no time to rest as all eight came at me. I blocked the first two and then managed to get out of the way of the others. They came after me and I was doing nothing but blocking and dodging. _I'm not getting anywhere. At this rate…_ I looked up to see Kiba and the others watching me, and that damned bastard was with them. He smiled a conniving smile and turned to say something to Kiba, who looked to him in surprise.

I turned back to the battle just in time to block a blow that sent me flying backward into the air. I looked down and did a flip to avoid an object thrown at me. I hit the ground running as other weapons were thrown at me. I hid behind a rock and heard the rest of the weapons hit it. And then I turned around to look behind me just in time for yet another bomb to go off, throwing me back. I landed and slid throwing several knives and managed to take down one of the guard.

I jumped back and slid on the ground before having to duck. They then threw two of the large four-bladed throwing stars at me. I launched into the air and spun sideways, letting one pass under and one above me. When I landed I immediately launched into a series of back flips before launching myself into the air. I threw several knives with bombs attached to them. They took out two more of the wolves.

I landed right next to one of the wolves and he started a barrage of attacks on me driving me back before jumping away. I looked down before jumping up and back as another explosion went off. The amount of explosives they hid in the arena and used themselves was amazing and really, really annoying. I landed and ducked as one swung his sword over my head before doing six back flips. They threw three knives at me. I dodged and threw some of my own. I tried to jump and dodge as I was tangled in wire again. I was slammed into the ground and I stood up just to be punched in the gut. And then they retreated. I looked down and jumped into the air and curled into a ball as I was blown backward and slammed hard into one of the surrounding walls. The pressure of the blast let off and I slid from the wall. I leaned against the wall and dodged out of the way as a sword was brought down over my head. I turned back and took out the one with the sword. I panted. _Four down, four to go._ Some of my bombs went off and provided me with a distraction to take down a fifth.

With only three to their team left, they started to panic and all rushed in at the same time. I dived between their legs before coming back and taking one more down. Another came from behind. I deflected his punch and that left him wide open and I sent him flying. The last charged in and I put him down quickly.

I stood panting. I was injured severely and bleeding. I looked up to see that bastard's face turn to an angry scowl and then he turned and left.

The others jumped down and rushed over to me just in time for me to collapse. Kiba handed Cheza to Tsume and Kiba bent to pick me up. I grunted in pain but otherwise didn't complain. And with that we hightailed it out of there.

The next time we stopped we were in a forest and it was night again. We found a river and stopped for the night. Kiba laid me down on the grass next to the river. I was barely awake but I registered that they were talking.

"Man, no wonder he was so on edge. That bastard was out of his mind. And what was up with those wolves that went after Gin?" Tsume asked looking around at the others.

"Is it really true? What that man told us… about Gin?" Toboe asked softly.

"I don't know. The only one who can tell us is Gin." Kiba answered.

I then opened my eyes and tried to sit up. Kiba helped me and I looked up to see them all looking at me. I looked at Kiba questioningly.

"He told us that you were his. That you used to hunt and kill your own kind. That you brought us to him for the same reason." I hung my head and closed my eyes, waiting for the words that would send me away. But they never came. "Did you really kill other wolves?" Kiba asked softly.

I nodded.

"But not by choice, right?" Toboe asked hopefully.

I shook my head.

"He forced you to, didn't he? And if you didn't, you would be killed yourself… right?" Tsume questioned in a surprisingly calm tone.

I looked up and nodded. They were quiet after that and I was grateful. They'd had to see more of my past than I had ever wanted them to.

When the moon was at its highest, and the pack was asleep, I wandered downstream until I was out of sight. I then waded into the water pulling off my jacket and shirt and throwing them on the ground before I dunked myself underwater. I then sat waist deep in the cold water and started cleaning my wounds. I was covered in blood, sweat, gunpowder, and dirt.

I heard soft steps behind me and turned to see Kiba looking sadly at me. I frowned at the face he was giving me and turned back around to continue rinsing off. When he noticed I was having a hard time reaching my back he stepped forward to help. He brushed my hands out of the way and replaced them with his own. I looked back at him but he wouldn't meet my gaze, so I just turned back around and looked up at the moon.

His hands stopped moving but stayed on my back. I looked back at him again to see him looking down with that same sad expression on his face. His fingers started tracing my scars and wounds gently.

"I know that you were trying to protect us from your past but you don't need to worry about us. Put yourself first for once."

My eyes widened a little and then I smiled. A true, genuine smile. He looked up in surprise and then he smiled too. I put my hand on his shoulder as a thanks before getting out of the water, shaking off before retrieving my clothes. I put them on and waited for Kiba so we could walk back together.

When we walked into the campsite, everyone was awake and looked over when we entered the clearing.

"Are you okay, Gin? When we woke up and couldn't find you, we thought you'd run off." Toboe said with worried eyes.

I smiled and nodded.

"We didn't have anything to worry about. He was just downstream washing off." Kiba told them.

Cheza walked up and touched my arm lightly, the question in her eyes. I took her hand and squeezed it lightly in a reassuring manner. She smiled softly and nodded.

She sat down under a tree and I walked over and laid down on her right side and Kiba on her left. She softly stroked our heads and I fell asleep quickly, truly happy for the first time in my life.

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><p>Phew... that took longer than I thought it would. So what do you guys think of Gin? Am I doing a good job depicting the characters? Let me know. I love reviews.<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

I am SOOO sorry it took me so long to update! Please forgive me! Thank you for those of you who have taken the time to review! I really appriciate it! I hope you enjoy the latest chapter :)

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><p>That night we were in a city again. The soldiers of the town we met Cheza in were in this one too. And they were still on our trail. We were just walking through but when Cheza passed an alleyway she stopped. I stopped behind her and Kiba looked back and saw she had stopped.<p>

"Cheza?" He asked before looking up to see what she was looking at.

It was that drunks dog.

"We have a friend, even here." Cheza said softly before walking over to the dog. Kiba followed. She knelt in front of it and was about to reach out when Kiba stopped her. She looked back at him. "It is alright." Kiba stepped back. "You do not know what you are. You never did. Is that not right? There is some wolf inside of you too." That shocked me, Kiba and the dog (wolf now, I guess). She reached to pet the dog again but it pulled back. "You were alone your whole life were you not?"

Kiba then heard people heading for the door. "Cheza!" He grabbed her and we hightailed it out of there.

We hid out in an old bus in a junk yard for the rest of the night and well into the morning. Around midday Kiba decided that it was time to do some recon and see what the soldiers were up to.

"This should be a perfect place to hide!" Hige declared. None of us had smelled a human throughout the night.

"Once we catch wind of what they're up to we'll come right back." Tsume said.

"Cheza, you stay here with Toboe and Gin." Kiba said.

"Leave it to us!" Toboe grinned.

As Kiba, Tsume and Hige left the rest of us peeked our heads out the windows to watch them leave.

"Don't be too long ok?" Toboe shouted after them.

We sat in the back of the bus. Cheza was sitting on the floor in a sun patch and Toboe sat right next to her. I was sprawled out on the seat behind them listening.

"I like this. The idea of friends waiting for other friends. It's really a nice feeling, if you know what I mean." Toboe looked over to Cheza who had her eyes closed and head tilted up toward the sun. "What is it?" He asked her.

She remained quiet for a minute and then opened her eyes.

"This One is stuffed. And you?"

"Umm, sure." Toboe smiled and she smiled back.

We then heard yelling outside.

"This way! Get 'em!"

We peeked our heads out and saw three kids with some sacks from some soldiers. They passed us without realizing we were there.

Hours passed and I started to hear movement around us. When I looked out I couldn't see them but I knew they were there.

I sat near the front of the bus but out of sight of anyone walking by. I closed my eyes and listened, trying to pinpoint them.

"Hey Gin, what are you doing?" Toboe asked.

I put my finger to my lips to tell him to be quiet. All around us I could hear low voices and soft footsteps. The clicking of guns and other equipment was there too. Once I was sure of where they were watching us from I stopped listening and went back to waiting for Kiba.

Toboe had an idea that we should hide and pop out when one of the others came back. Toboe and Cheza hid behind the first seat and I hid behind them.

Kiba was the first to get back. He stopped inside the bus when he didn't see anyone. And then we popped out of our hiding spots.

"Mwaha!" Toboe shouted. Kiba looked at him completely expressionless. Toboe smiled sheepishly. "What took you so long?" Hige entered then. "Hey welcome back!"

"How did it go?" Kiba asked.

"They've really got us surrounded this time. So we'll have to move at night."

Kiba nodded then turned back to look at us. "There's a place not too far from here that the local humans call The Forest of Death."

Toboe shivered. "Forest of Death? That doesn't sound good."

"They say if you get lost in it you never come out." Kiba continued.

"Big deal, with our noses that forest will be a piece of cake. Am I right?" Hige said with the utmost confidence.

"Right," Kiba responded.

Tsume walked in then.

"How's it lookin'?" Hige asked.

"I found an escape route that'll be perfect."

"That settles it. We'll be leaving tonight." Kiba said.

"Alright! We can finally get out of here." Toboe exclaimed.

I heard voices again where the soldiers were. I closed my eyes and concentrated again. The lookouts hadn't moved but it seemed like there were more.

"Gin, what is it?" Kiba asked me.

I pointed in the directions where the soldiers were and a rough estimate of how many were at each location.

"Soldiers?" Kiba clarified and I nodded.

"Damn, have they been here the whole time?" Tsume growled in frustration.

I pointed to an escape route that I had spotted. At dusk I led them out without being spotted.

Hige and Tsume went to the soldiers' encampment to distract them and to get all the soldiers away from the escape route. Kiba and Toboe went with Cheza and I took to the rooftops to keep an eye out.

We met at a cemetery that was right outside the forest.

"Shouldn't they be here by now?" Toboe complained.

"They are here." Kiba told him.

Tsume and Hige dropped down from the cliff above us.

"Sorry we're late," Tsume said.

"Operation successful," Hige gave a thumbs up.

And then a gunshot into the middle of our group from the cliff scattered us. It was the same man as always. We were all doing fine until Cheza tripped. Kiba stood in front of her and took a bullet to the shoulder.

The man was about to shoot again but I knew he was out of bullets. I picked Cheza up and grabbed Kiba as the man realized he was out and was trying to reload. By the time he looked up again we were gone.

Once we were safe I put Cheza down and went to Kiba to look at his wound. Cheza followed me and she gently moved my hands out of the way and healed Kiba. After that we started moving again. We all felt the same way about this place: the sooner we get through the better.

About an hour in Hige broke the silence.

"Man, this place is depressing. I thought forests were supposed to be more alive, ya know?"

"It's The Forest of Death, remember?" Toboe reminded him.

"That's the reason the humans can't follow us in here." Kiba said.

"Well, we don't have to rely on compasses or whatever, but shouldn't there at least be some animals? Ya know, like a rabbit or a fox?" Hige complained.

"Rabbit huh? In other words you're hungry." Toboe teased.

"Sue me alright!" Hige responded.

"We'll probably come across a town once we're through this forest. Just hang in there until then."

"If we make it out of here alive that is." So says Mr. Sunshine, otherwise known as Tsume, as he kicks a human skull. Toboe freaked out and then a huge bug started flying around. Tsume grabbed it before it slammed into Toboe. "There are plenty of bugs though."

"Thanks a lot Tsume," Toboe sighed in relief.

"I've never seen a bug like this," Tsume said before shoving it in Hige face. "Here." Hige grossed out. "You're hungry aren't you? Chow down."

"Why the hell should I?" Hige shouted.

"'Cause you got the strongest stomach, right?" Toboe teased.

"Eat it." Tsume said with the most blank expression ever.

"I ain't your taster! And how come you're giving me orders! You're not our leader or anything, right?" Hige exclaimed looking to Kiba for help, which he didn't get. "Hey, I know! Let's give it to Cheza!" He said taking it from Tsume and running up to her. "I bet you're hungry, right?"

Kiba smacked it out of Hige's hands. "Cheza does not eat bugs."

"Well then, what should we feed her?" Hige asked.

"This One doesn't eat, anything."

"Not a thing?" Hige asked.

"Now that you mention it, I've never seen her eat." Tsume said.

"She drank some water that one time." Toboe remembered.

"This One drinks and basks."

"Basks in what?" Kiba asked.

She smiled at him and looked up to where the sky was completely shielded from view by the thick branches of the forest.

"But not here," she said looking back at Kiba.

"Oh, I get it. Sunlight." Toboe said.

"Makes sense. She is a flower." Hige agreed.

We kept walking until Toboe slipped and twisted his ankle.

"Let me see it." Kiba said.

"Ok."

I sat with Cheza. She sighed and leaned back against a tree. She looked like she was getting tired.

"Well, it doesn't look sprained." I heard Kiba say.

"He can't even handle this little forest. Like I always say, you can't take city kids to the woods." Hige teased.

"Do you think you can walk?" Kiba asked.

I watched as Cheza got up and headed over to them.

"I'm ok, I can walk just fi-" He fell back down after putting a little weight on it.

Cheza walked up and knelt in front of Toboe and started massaging his ankle. Hige walked up.

"Does that feel good?" Hige asked.

"Real good, the pain is just melting away." Toboe started giggling.

"Cheza, uh, could you pet me too?" Hige asked.

She did and he started laughing too.

"Come on Tsume. Have Cheza pet you too. It feels unbelievable."

"She smells so good!" Hige commented.

Tsume sighed, exasperated.

Eventually we got underway again.

"This forest ain't so bad once you get used to it. Nothing to fight over and the best part is there's no humans around. We've got it all to ourselves."

"Yeah and if we get hungry there's plenty of bugs we can eat." Toboe said.

"Heh, fat chance pal." Hige responded.

"Then you better not complain when we don't share 'em with you." Tsume said.

"I'll say it again. Who the hell died and made you the leader, huh?"

"Neither one of us is the leader, Hige. Ours just isn't the kind of pack that has one." Kiba told him.

"What kind of pack are we then?" Tsume asked.

"Guys come on. That doesn't really matter right?" Toboe reasoned. "Hey I know! When we all finally make it out of here, what's the very first thing you wanna do?"

"Whaddya think?" Hige asked.

"Eat as much as I can," Tsume said.

"Eat and sleep," was Kiba's answer and I agreed with him.

Toboe's stomach growled.

"I guess you're right." Toboe smiled sheepishly.

"You moron, isn't it obvious?" Hige teased.

And then Cheza collapsed into Kiba.

"Cheza!" Kiba lowered her and held her. "You must be exhausted. We'll rest a while."

"It is alright, This One is fine."

"A bird!" Hige shouted.

"Where?" Toboe asked.

"It's The Forest of Death. You must be seeing things." Tsume told him.

"No, I'm sure I heard the flapping of wings above us. It was from an owl… which means, we got meat!" Hige shouted as he ran off.

"Hey, Hige! Come back here!" Tsume shouted. "Aw dammit, what an idiot. Stay here."

"'Kay," Toboe said softly as he watched Tsume go.

While they were gone Cheza got worse. Toboe howled to get Tsume and Hige's attention. They arrived back in no time at all.

"Cheza, hang in there, you can do it." Kiba was holding her and he was starting to panic.

Tsume knelt down next to her and he saw the marks on her neck.

"What…? Is that? Is she withering?" Tsume asked.

"She needs water, even sunlight would help!" Kiba shouted.

"But there isn't any. The woods are too thick. And the ground, it's too dry. We'll never find any water here." Tsume pointed out.

And when Kiba grabbed Tsume's shoulder I knew that he was really panicking.

"We have to! We still have to try." Kiba insisted.

I walked up and gently touched Kiba's shoulder. He looked back at me with a burning determination in his eyes. I smiled softly and motioned for us to get going. He nodded and picked her up and started walking. We followed silently.

We came to a fork and were torn on which way to go.

Hige sniffed the air. "I say to the right."

"Hige, do you smell any water from there?" Kiba asked hopefully.

"No, not a drop, but just standing here isn't helping us any."

"Here isn't helping, here isn't helping!" An owl cooed from behind us.

"It's an owl." Kiba stated.

"Damn thing is back," Tsume responded.

"It can't be helped if there is no light; it can't be helped if there is no water; it can't be helped if the flower is withering." The bird taunted.

"What did you say?" Kiba shouted.

"Wait a minute. That owl probably lives here in this forest, right? And if he does, don't you think he knows where we can find water?" Toboe asked hopefully.

Kiba turned back to the bird. "Alright tell us, what's the closest place around here that has water?"

The owl stayed silent.

"Stupid bird. Cut the theatrics already and spill it!" Hige shouted.

"Do you live here in this forest or not? If you do then tell us! She has to have water now!" Kiba yelled impatiently.

"Kiba…Kiba, who are you talking to?" Cheza asked weakly.

That put me on edge. She should be able to sense the owl. What does it mean when she can't? Is she too weak or is it something else?

"To an owl, Cheza." Kiba responded.

"An owl?"

"Whooo," the owl cooed.

"Come on, isn't there any water in this forest?" Kiba shouted at it again.

The owl took off. "Go astray, go astray my good wolves. Answers always lies in confusion."

"We can't lose him! He's the only lead we've got!" Tsume shouted as we took off after the owl.

"You'll never find what you are looking for if the searcher were to find what is searched for it would become a mere object." The owl landed on a branch above a cave. "The answer lies within the darkness; the answer lies within confined spaces. Only those who bravely enter will be rewarded."

"That a riddle?" Toboe asked.

"Bird brain wants us to go in the cave." Hige answered.

"So does that mean there's water inside?" Toboe turned to Tsume.

"How should I know?" Tsume responded.

Kiba started walking into the cave.

Hige stopped him. "Hey, don't go in there! You gunna believe what some old owl tells you? This whole thing stinks!"

"You tell me where we can find water then. Can you do that Hige?" Kiba snapped. Hige backed off, a little shocked by Kiba's reaction. "At this point we don't have any other choice." Kiba walked into the cave again.

As I passed, I put my hand on Hige's shoulder. He sighed in understanding and we all followed Kiba into the cave.

We walked for what seemed like hours before we came to a pillar we had already passed.

"We passed this thing a while ago…" Hige said.

"You mean we've been going in circles?" Toboe asked.

"Stupid place is like a maze. And to make matters worse everything looks the same." Tsume observed.

"We went left last time," Kiba stated before heading right. He tripped on a crack and nearly fell. "Damn it all!"

"Just take it easy will ya?" Tsume growled.

Toboe ran up. "Kiba, you're just tired, right? Want me to carry her?"

"Why, can you carry her? Do you think you can carry her? Answer me!" Kiba snapped.

"Well I-" Toboe stammered.

"I'm fine so walk! We don't have time to take a rest!"

"Would you cut the crap! We can't trust your nose anymore. The scent of flowers has screwed it up." Tsume stated.

"My nose is fine!"

"Kiba, put Cheza down." Tsume commanded.

"Tsume, do you still not trust her?"

"With the way you've been acting it's you we can't trust." Tsume stated. "As leader of a pack you have to be calm and detached. And right now you don't have that. It's impossible for someone to be right all the time you know."

"Stay out of my way." Kiba growled.

"That a threat?"

"Guys cut it out!" Toboe pleaded. As he stepped there was crunching under his foot. He stepped back and looked at what it was he stepped on. "Are… they bones?"

"Human bones?" Hige asked.

"I'm not so sure. I think… they're from a bird."

"A bird?" Hige echoed.

"It looks like… wait, could this be an owl?"

That made the owl encounter outside even more creepy. And then a bug busted out of the ground where the bones were and started climbing up Hige's leg. He freaked and kicked it off into a rock where it squealed and curled into a ball.

There was a returning shriek from the other side of the rock and a whole hoard of bugs came and surrounded us.

"There's a million of 'em!" Toboe whined.

One of them jumped up at Tsume and he knocked it out of the way.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted that owl." Tsume growled.

"Let's get out of here!" Hige shouted.

"Where can we go?" Toboe asked.

A bug jumped onto Cheza's back. Toboe pried it off and stepped on it. Kiba brought Cheza around so he was carrying her bridal style.

"Kiba, up here!" Tsume shouted from a ledge.

"Tsume!" Kiba shouted as he threw Cheza up to him. He caught her without a problem and jumped back down a second later to stand with us.

"Are wolves gunna lose to a bunch of bugs?" Tsume asked.

"Though I must admit we both like to hang around flowers."

"Heh, nicely said runt." Hige smirked.

"Here they come." Kiba warned.

And then there was nothing but teeth, claws, blood and howls as we all fought to get out alive. Cheza then decided to jump down from her safe area.

"Cheza!" Kiba yelled before running to get to her.

"Dammit," Tsume said before following.

She ran in the opposite direction we were and she ran with purpose, but I couldn't figure out where she was going.

"Cheza, no! What are you doing?" Toboe shouted after her.

She paid him no mind as she kept running and fell through a gap in the wall that we hadn't noticed before. We all immediately followed.

When we found her at the bottom she was laid out against the wall. A bug was by her feet.

"Cheza," Kiba started toward her.

"No wait," Tsume stopped him.

Just beyond where Cheza was were a bunch of huge Venus Fly Traps.

Kiba knelt next to her, "Cheza."

"Don't worry, This One is fine."

"Thank goodness." Kiba relaxed a great deal.

"This One heard them. They said they were hungry."

"They're plants that eat bugs huh?" Tsume observed.

"I guess this means we were saved by Cheza's friends." Hige pointed out.

"Hey guys! I see light! It's the way out!" Toboe exclaimed, pointing to a narrow corridor.

We ran to the exit. There was a good sized lake on the edge of a normal forest and it was night.

Toboe ran out. "There's water! And check it out, there's moonlight too!"

Toboe, Hige and Tsume all jumped in and started screwing around. I followed behind Kiba.

"Look Cheza, there's your water. Now you can."

"This One will be able to eat and drink all it wants."

"Yeah."

Kiba let her down and she went in until the water was up to her thighs. She glowed in the moonlight as she soaked it all in. Tsume, Hige and Toboe all stopped to watch. I waited on the bank with Kiba. We got our fill of water and then we settled down around Cheza to sleep.

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><p>Okay I made a mistake in the beginning of this chapter by having them leave the mountain city too early. I fixed it as best as I could. Hopefully it doesn't confuse you at all. Sorry!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

There! Two chapters in one day to make up for my long absence. I will try to update more regularly. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Some parts of it were really hard to write.

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><p>The next morning we headed off and by midday we were in a shabby town in the middle of the desert.<p>

A man whistled at Cheza but she completely ignored him.

"Man what a seedy looking town." Hige said.

"It's my kind of place." Tsume responded.

"I bet it is." Kiba said with a small smile.

"Smell the danger in the air, my blood's on fire!" Tsume smirked.

"Me too, me too!" Toboe said excitedly.

Hige put him in a hold. "Pretty big talk for someone who's scared all the time! But that's not the only reason you're fired up is it runt! For one thing tonight's…"

"Yeah, it's a full moon."

Hige let Toboe go. "I know it's like that for us 'cause we get our strength from the full moon. But what about Cheza? She looks like she's glowing too!" Toboe pointed out.

"Yeah. Once a year on the night of a full moon, flowers will hear the moon's call and return to Paradise. That's a legend I heard once." Kiba told us.

"So, you mean tonight she'll…" Tsume trailed off.

"I'm not sure if it'll be tonight. We'll just have to wait and see." Kiba replied.

"What? What's gunna happen to her?" Toboe questioned.

"You're not sayin' that Cheza's gunna bloom or something are ya?" Hige asked.

Cheza turned to look back at us. "This One is excited too!"

We waited in that city until dusk. When the moon started to rise Cheza dipped her feet in a fountain.

"So this is it." Tsume said.

"Yeah, right about now I feel like I can do almost anything!" Hige smiled excitedly.

"I mean we've all seen a full moon before. Because Cheza's with us it seems different, doesn't it?" Toboe noticed.

"Aw man, I just want to howl my head off!" Tsume exclaimed.

"Something's about to happen." Kiba told us.

Cheza started spinning in the fountain and we ran around her. When Kiba stopped to howl, we all followed suit. When we couldn't howl anymore we sat around Cheza with our noses pointed to the heavens, and waited.

When Cheza opened her eyes a trail of lunar flowers sprouted beneath us and disappeared into the horizon.

"It's the path to Paradise," Hige breathed.

"Is that really what it is?" Tsume asked.

"Amazing, it's amazing!" Toboe whispered, awed.

Cheza started running down the path and we followed, heading toward that distant light on the horizon.

And then that noise again. A Noble's airship. We looked up and could see a dark spot on the moon. The trail of flowers had vanished and the ship landed. The door opened to reveal a man with the same scent as the one who took Cheza in the first place.

"The wolves. It's been a long time." He said as he walked out of his ship.

"That stench, he's a noble?" Tsume asked.

"What are you doing here?" Kiba asked, getting to the point.

"Was your little dream pleasant? The one where you were going to Paradise?" He taunted.

"What?" Kiba demanded.

"The time has not yet come for that. Return to me, Cheza."

She took a step back.

"Get out of our way!" Kiba charged and was repelled by a barrier.

A laser was shot at him and he jumped out of the way. Another went off and threw Toboe. Hige tried to get to him but another laser sent them both flying. They were knocked out and bleeding badly.

Cheza screamed in the background as I, Kiba and Tsume charged the ship. A laser came straight for us. We split and Kiba and I dodged but Tsume was hit and it knocked him across the ground. Kiba went up the left side and I took the right. A laser split and sent us both high into the air and we landed hard.

I forced myself to my feet, as did Kiba. We were knocked back, skidding across the rough ground. We rose a third time and were sent back again. I tried to stand but my body felt like lead.

"That is enough." Cheza said as started walking.

As she neared Kiba, I watched in amazement as he stood. She knelt and hugged his neck. I couldn't hear them but I knew they were talking. When Kiba collapsed she pet him one last time before she stood. She then walked over to me and knelt beside me. I knew she was leaving to protect us. I whined to let her know I didn't agree with her decision. She only smiled and softly pet me. After a few minutes she stood and moved on to Tsume, then Hige, and then Toboe. When she stood, she walked past the man and onto his ship. We watched as that man took off with the most vital thing in our quest.

We laid there not moving for several hours. Kiba eventually stood and looked in the direction the man took Cheza. I staggered to my feet and walked up beside him. He looked back at me and then we went to wake the others, to move to a better location.

We went back to that desert town and found an empty warehouse to hide in. We stayed there for a good part of the day.

Kiba sat up and rubbed his shoulder.

"You up and moving already?" Hige asked. "Come on guys, I know we've been through a lot but why all the moping?"

"I couldn't sleep, that's why." Toboe told him.

"Yeah, well neither could I." Hige replied.

"You slept like a dead man, as always." Tsume put in.

"Look, I'm just as shocked and frustrated as the rest of you but none of that is gunna help us figure out what the hell to do now. Are we gunna live here in a stupor for the rest of our lives? Somebody say something, dammit. Kiba, you haven't said a single word to any of us since everything happened."

"Drop it," Tsume warned.

"Leave him alone. Kiba was hurt the worst, remember?" Toboe reminded him and unwittingly reminding me that I didn't do my job.

"It's not that. It's just, I'm really pissed off." Kiba told them.

We heard yelling then.

"She went that way."

"Get her!"

"Come back dammit! She's over there!"

And then the old drunk's dog rounded the corner into the warehouse. She stopped when she figured out we were there.

"Wow, what a babe." Hige said.

The men who were chasing her came up behind her.

"She's got friends."

"Yeah, so what's it to you?" Hige asked stepping in front of her.

"Hand over the girl." One of the men demanded.

"Why should we?" Hige retorted.

"She's our merchandise. Move." The leader told the two behind him. "You guys aren't from around here are ya?"

"Yeah, so what if we aren't?" Hige asked.

"There's a big demand for young bodies in this town." The one coming up on our left told us.

"People pay top dollar for healthy organs." The other chimed in.

The two on the sides rushed in. The one on the left charged and Toboe and Tsume dodged out of the way.

"You don't expect us to give up our bodies do ya?" Tsume asked as he took out the man on the left.

The leader ran at me. I knocked his fist out of the way and sent him flying with a punch to the gut. Hige ducked his shoulder, slammed into him and pinned him down. The man on the right swung a pipe at Kiba's head. He ducked and tripped the man. As he turned over Kiba pinned him down.

"I-I'm going crazy. Oh no, it's the curse! It's the curse of the House of Darcia!" The man Kiba had pinned screamed as Kiba acted like he was going to kill him. And then we ran off, leaving the men to sort through what happened.

We ended up in the junk yard.

"Did you see that stupid look on their faces?" Tsume laughed.

"I know, that felt terrific." Toboe agreed. Kiba sat down and held his shoulder. "Kiba, are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, are you alright?" Hige asked the dog.

"Yeah, thanks for helping me."

"We didn't do it for you, ya know. Those idiots just happened to catch us in a bad mood, that's all." Tsume growled.

"She was just thanking us, why do you have to be so harsh?" Hige accused. "It's not like we run into girls every day. By the way, I'm Hige."

"My name is… it's Blue. It's been a while huh?" She addressed everyone except Hige.

"Huh? You guys know each other?" Hige asked, confused.

"You could say that." Kiba answered.

"You did some pretty nasty things to us when you were with the human." Tsume growled.

"That old guy, where is he?" Toboe asked.

"Something happened and we were split up."

"He was still tracking us in the last city we were in." Kiba told her.

"I know he was. That's why he was there. Pops would track down a wolf to the ends of the Earth."

"I don't get it, aren't you a wolf too?" Toboe asked.

"Hey, that girl, isn't she with you? You know, the one you guys were traveling with. She had a… a really strange scent."

"A girl? You mean Cheza?" Toboe asked.

"Cheza?"

"Oh, uh, about that. Well, let's just say we shouldn't talk about that right now okay? I know, why don't we look for some food? I mean we did just bump into each other and all. Besides, there's a whole mess of danger for a girl traveling on her own in a town like this." Hige tried to convince her to stay.

"Not a chance, Porky." Tsume said.

"Why not?" Hige questioned.

"As if I'd ever hang with her. She was doing everything she could to hunt us down." Tsume continued.

"Yeah, but-" Hige tried.

"You know you're only saying that because it didn't happen to you." Toboe said.

Blue gave a short laugh, "Forget it. I don't want to hang out with a bunch of kids either. See you around." She said as she trotted off.

"Hey!" Hige shouted after her before turning to us. "Aren't you guys being a little cold?" He ran after her. "Hold on, it's dangerous. Wait up!"

"But Hige!" Toboe yelled.

"His tail wags whenever there's a girl around. Just let him go." Tsume said, sitting down again.

"When we were back in that city, she found out she's half wolf. Cheza told her." Kiba told them.

"Half wolf?" Toboe asked.

"That side of her must have woken up, after meeting Cheza."

"Cheza… I wonder what she's doing? You think she's okay?" Toboe wondered.

We stayed in the junk yard and everyone went quiet. Kiba went quiet and started sulking again and he was fidgeting. We all noticed. Tsume, Toboe, and I were sitting apart from him.

"He's depressed again. What should we do?" Toboe asked.

"What makes you think he'll listen to me?" Tsume asked.

"I don't think he will listen to me either, though."

They both looked at me. I sighed and got up. I walked over beside him. He looked up at me and I motioned with my head to follow. When he got up I took off sprinting with him following. There were raised areas where old towns used to be and I raced him to the top of one of them. I dodged through buildings and he disappeared from behind me. I stopped to look and he tackled me from the side.

He was straddling my hips and he had my shoulders pinned, so I couldn't move very well. I burst out laughing. It had been a long time since someone had taken me by surprise like that.

He sat there shocked for a minute before he started laughing too. When we finally calmed down he realized he was still on top of me. He quickly got up.

"Sorry…" He said as he extended his hand.

I laughed quietly as he helped me up.

"You were trying to cheer me up… weren't you?"

I nodded.

"Sorry about that. It's just, he really pissed me off." He was looking in the direction Cheza was taken.

I sighed, and then I did something that I haven't done in a long time.

"We'll get her back you know."

He spun around, his eyes wide in shock. I smiled sheepishly.

"So you can talk. Why now though?"

I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed. "Well, I needed to do something…" I mumbled. "I mean it though. We _will_ get her back."

He laughed dryly. "How can you be so sure? I know I act confident a lot of the time but…"

"I'm sure because there's no way that a bunch of wolves will give in to a prick like that. And there's no way your instincts are wrong. We'll get her back, and when we do we'll set things straight."

"Thanks for that." He was silent for a moment. "Why do you follow me? You hadn't met me so how did you even know where to find me?"

"Why do you follow Cheza? How do you know where she is? I don't know why or how, I just know that I do and I can. I don't know why, but I want to protect you, like you protect her."

He nodded, able to understand that. "Will you tell me your real name?"

"I don't have one. In the place where I grew up, where I ran away from, we were assigned numbers. I was number 13. Gin is the first real name I've had."

"Oh… sorry."

"Don't be, you didn't know." I looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set. "We should head back now before it gets dark."

"Will you stop talking again?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

"Because, they don't need me. They need _you._"

"Oh."

"Let's go. I'll race you back."

We ran back and found Tsume and Toboe in the same spot we left them in.

"Hey, welcome back!" Toboe smiled.

"Thanks." Kiba said, still out of breath.

We both sat down and the group stayed silent for a while.

"I wonder where Hige ran off to?" Toboe asked no one in particular.

"Once he gets dumped he'll come sulking back." Tsume said.

Toboe got up. "I'm gunna go look around for him. Just take it easy 'til I get back." He ran off.

Kiba looked in front of him and saw a crest. "That's the same crest from the castle where Cheza was held."

"This area must still be part of that nobles territory." Tsume responded.

"The curse of the house of Darcia, huh?"

"What?" Tsume asked.

"That's what the guy back there said when he saw us."

"Mm, humans have always seen wolves that way. That's why they're so scared of us. Why didn't you let 'em have it back there? I would've expected you to jump at the chance to rip those humans to pieces. It's not 'cause of your injuries is it."

"Even if we had killed them I doubt they would have tasted very good."

"Can't argue with that." Tsume chuckled.

Gunshots sounded and they almost hit us. We jumped up to see the guys from earlier plus some.

"Well lookie here. We found us some wolves. Jagara's people will pay us a small fortune for you."

"Jagara?" Tsume questioned before they started shooting again.

We took off running. When we were by a small trailer Tsume stopped and held his arm.

"Are you okay?" Kiba asked.

"Don't worry, the bullet only grazed my arm."

"What's the matter? Have you boys been hurt? Are you alright?" An elderly lady questioned.

A man in the doorway of the trailer cocked a rifle and aimed it at us.

"Elmira, you come over here now."

"We have no intention of hurting either one of you." Kiba tried to reason.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Dear, put the gun down. They're only children." The woman told her husband.

"Don't be stupid. They're strays and they're dangerous."

"What are you talking about? Have you lost your senses?"

"Elmira I may be an old man but I am not going senile. Take a close look at those three!"

Just then Hige, Toboe and Blue showed up.

"Oh crap!" Hige said as he skidded to a halt along with Toboe.

Blue ran full speed toward the man, dodged a bullet and came to stop right at his feet.

"We are not gunna do anything to you so just leave us alone." Kiba told the man. "I don't wanna fight if there's no reason to. I don't wanna kill."

We heard the men who shot at us behind us.

"Those people want to capture us and sell us to the highest bidder. It's up to you whether we can avoid blood shed." Tsume said.

When he decided to help we had Hige and Toboe lay out on the ground. The old man shot around them while they played dead. Kiba, Tsume, Blue and I hid out while the old man and woman played their part.

When the men finally caught up what they saw were two dead wolves, a senile old man and his wife trying to calm him down. The men bought the act and left.

The old woman was nice enough to make us some food. Blue stayed by the old man, letting him pet her instead of eating.

"Please forgive my husband. I can't believe he thought you were wolves of all things. He's starting to get more and more confused lately. That's why we came out here on this little jaunt. Let's spend the time we have left on the road, he said. So now this trailer is our home, as well as our coffin. But we've seen such horrible things. That castle of the Darcia's to the west of here, which must have been beautiful once, is nothing but a giant grave."

"The castle of the Darcia's?" Kiba asked.

"It's as if everything in this world has given up its desire to live." The woman continued.

"No, it hasn't. The old man isn't confused at all. He's right. We are wolves." Kiba told the woman.

"You ready to go?" Hige asked Toboe and he nodded.

Blue stood up. "Good bye Mister. Take care."

"Where are you going to go?" The old man asked.

"To the castle in the west." Kiba told him.


	8. Chapter 8

Okay! This chapter is almost completely made up and this is where the interesting stuff starts happening between Gin and Kiba. Hope you enjoy!

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><p>We were gathered in a deserted part of the city. Hige and Blue were sitting on a bench, Tsume was leaning against a railing, Toboe was standing on the railing, Kiba was standing a ways apart from the rest facing the west, and I was sitting apart from everyone just watching.<p>

I could hear them talking but I wasn't paying any attention. Hige and Blue were talking. Kiba voiced that she should stay with the humans. She told him she couldn't and he returned that she can only move forward then. Hige got enthusiastic in his quest to get her to come with us. From what Kiba had said he had already forgiven her and accepted her so I didn't care either way.

Hige got up and pointed to the south thinking that's where we were headed until Kiba told him other wise. We all set off and Hige made sure Blue went with us.

At some point the desert ran out into a much greener place. We were running through a valley along a river when we came to a good sized city. But for such a large city there were few people. And then we were surrounded by a mixture of people and wolves.

Before we could do anything they had Toboe, Hige, Blue, Kiba and Tsume on the ground tying their hands. Only my experience on the battlefield and quick reflexes saved me from being captured as well. They hoisted the others to their feet and were herding them away from me. I fought hard to get to them. The further they were taken from me the faster I realized the only way to get to them was to get captured as well.

I stopped fighting and was immediately pelted with punches and kicks. I was thrown to the ground and they tied my hands. We were soon following the previous group. They took us to a large building on the edge of the city. We were taken to the back into a dungeon area. The others were thrown into separate cells while I was chained on a platform against a wall with my arms stretched out on either side of me.

A man walked in and was looking us all over. When he came to me one of the men who tied me up spoke.

"He seems to be the strongest, sir. We only caught him because he allowed us to. He is very skilled."

"That so?" Asked the man who I now assumed was their leader. He walked up to me. "You have quite the fire in your eyes." He commented as I glared at him. "We'll have to fix that."

He left and returned a while later in different clothes. They were spattered and stained with old blood. He smirked deviously and I braced myself for the pain that was to come.

He took a knife off a cart of weapons that had been brought in. He walked up to me and grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head to the side. The knife was brought up to my neck. I could feel the cold metallic as he gently ran it down my jugular and to my collar bone. When I didn't flinch he brought it back up and applied enough pressure to draw blood.

I didn't dare move. If I so much as moved a muscle the blade would cut directly into the vein in my neck. When he reached my collar bone he kept going, down my chest and onto my stomach, ripping my shirt and jacket on the way down. He decided he didn't like my jacket or shirt and ripped them to shreds.

He got frustrated when I didn't make a noise or move. He let go of my hair and brought the butt of the blade down onto my temple. My vision blurred and I struggled to remain on my feet. I regained my balance but was already breathing hard. I looked up and tried to clear my vision as blood trickled down the side of my face. This seemed to please the man. Dimly I registered various members of my pack calling me. The only voice that got through was Kiba's as he called my name.

Hearing him, I stood up straighter and held my head a little higher. A scowl crossed his face as he brought the knife across my chest in a shallow cut. After that he decided to use a whip. After twenty I stopped counting. At this point I was fighting to keep quiet and on my feet.

He stopped abruptly and I opened my eyes to see him glaring angrily as he tried to calm his breathing. He turned to one of the men who was standing guard behind him.

"I'll break this one later. Bring me that white one. He seems to be the center of this one's attention."

I lost it.

In a bout of super-human(super-wolf?) strength I broke my bonds and charged at the man. I was tackled from the right and thrown to the ground. I kicked the man off of me and engaged another. I was blindly lashing out until that man's voice caught my attention.

I looked over even as I bashed in a man's skull. What I saw made my heart stop. He had Kiba standing in front of him with a knife to his throat. Even as a wolf, when a knife is at your throat you can't do anything but stand still.

"Don't move or I'll slit his throat." The man warned. I snarled in response but stopped all movement. "Why don't we take this to the arena where we have more room." My arms were roughly grabbed and tied behind my back. "Why don't we bring the others too, so they can watch their strongest fall." The bastard smiled as he roughly shoved Kiba forward.

The others were tied and were escorted behind me. It was an open air arena and it was huge. It was raining heavily. I was shoved into the center and surrounded by twenty or so men. My pack were lined up against one of the walls. Kiba was handed off to another guard. I had my head tilted upward as the rain pelted me. I was soaked in less than a minute. No one moved. They all just watched me as I stood there in the rain. I heard the leader walk up to me. I looked at him with a clear challenge in my eyes.

He scowled and brought the back of his fist across my face. My hands were still tied so I struggled to keep my balance. His backhand signaled to the other men to start their assault. I was kicked, punched and beaten. An especially hard kick sent me flying back into the wall next to Kiba. I glanced at him briefly to see the fear and concern in his eyes. Then I was dragged away from the wall and out into the open again. I saw a knife come at me and my instincts kicked in. I ducked and the knife cut my bonds. I back flipped away and was about to take down a guy before I remembered why I wasn't supposed to be fighting.

A fist connected with my jaw and sent me sprawling on my stomach into the mud. I panted as I tried to get up. Someone roughly grabbed my hair and I was pulled to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a group around Kiba, the knife still at his throat. It cut in and I watched as blood trickled down his chest to stain his shirt. I watched as pain clouded his eyes.

I saw red. My vision blurred with fury and my body kicked into overdrive. I don't think I've ever moved so fast or killed so efficiently. When the pack was free my priority shifted from revenge to get them to safety. Kiba and Tsume took the lead and I protected the rear.

A man charged at me and as his blade passed my face I vaguely noticed it had a strange scent. I dodged and moved forward for the kill. He brought another blade out from behind his back and as I struck the final blow it caught me on my side, leaving a shallow cut.

He fell, dead, and we ran out of the building and scaled the cliff behind it faster than any of us would have thought possible. We got to the top and kept running further into the forest that was at the top. I felt a sharp increase in pain and dropped to my hands and knees with a gasp. They noticed immediately and ran back to me.

I gritted my teeth against another rise in pain. I fell to my side and curled in on myself as the pain kept coming. Kiba knelt next to me and put a hand on my face to get my attention.

"Gin… Gin! What's going on?" Kiba sounded urgent but I couldn't answer even if I wanted to. If I tried to speak I would probably scream. He rolled me onto my back and straightened me out so I was lying flat. He turned to Tsume. "Find shelter for the others. I'll take care of him."

"Are you sure?" Tsume asked. Kiba nodded. "Fine, I'll take care of the rest. You focus on him." Tsume turned to the others and lead them off into the forest.

I tried to think of why the pain was so bad. It shouldn't be like this. My mind went back to the last fight. The man with the hidden blade that had cut me… his sword had smelled funny. That's when it came to me. Poison. He had poisoned his blades. The one had barely scratched me but the pain was intense. I noticed something else. Before an increase in pain, it backed off to a dull ache before flaring up to a pain greater than the last.

Kiba got my attention again. "What's going on Gin? What's happening?"

"P-poison…" I managed to grind out.

He moved the hair out of my face. I bared my teeth in pain as another wave washed over me. Through the haze I could tell Kiba was panicking. He held my hand in his to try to offer any support he could. He didn't know what he needed to do to help me. Hell, I didn't even know. One thing I did know was that this was some extreme poison.

The pain dulled again and I steeled myself for another wave. It didn't come when I expected it to. I lay panting, confused. I wondered if it was going away. It stayed a dull ache for a good ten minutes. Long enough for me to let my guard down.

The pain came back ten fold and without warning. I screamed as the pain overtook me. Kiba panicked and did the only thing he could think of to quiet me and to provide a distraction.

Our lips connected. One of my hands grabbed onto his arm and the other onto his shoulder with bruising force. I had a death grip on him and I wasn't about to let go. He was my lifeline.

He kissed me, desperate to help relieve the pain. His tongue dove into my mouth when I opened it to gasp in pain. His hand gently stroked the side of my face.

Slowly the pain dulled. My body went slack from exhaustion. I still had my grip on Kiba as he left my mouth to allow me to breathe while he continued to trail kisses down my jaw and neck. He was careful to avoid every injury. He gently bit down on the juncture where my neck meets my shoulder. Unconsciously I tilted my head for him. He left a light mark before moving down my chest. He found a nipple and started licking and lightly biting it. I moaned quietly. One hand went to my other nipple while his remaining hand wandered down my body.

I was still panting but now it was from what Kiba was doing. His mouth continued down. I moaned again when his tongue darted out below my waistline.

"Ki-ba… Ngh! Not-ah!.. Not now." I managed to grind out between breaths and moans.

He looked up at me from where he was teasing at my waistline. I tangled a hand in the hair on the back of his head and gently brought him back up to my level.

In my pain filled haze I hadn't noticed when he had gotten on top of me. I now noticed he was straddling my hips with a hand on either side of my head. I relaxed slightly underneath him as the poison finally faded completely. He moved to get off me but I kept my hand in his hair, gently holding him in place. He understood the message and didn't move. I finally went completely limp. With him there to watch over me I felt safe enough to let my guard down. He buried his face in my neck gently licking there as a sign of comfort.

I don't know how long had passed before we finally moved. He gave me his coat since mine had been torn to shreds and then he helped me to my feet. It became evident that I was in no condition to walk. He carefully picked me up and started walking.

I was nearly asleep by the time we made it to where the others had gone. As soon as we appeared everyone immediately jumped up. Kiba walked into the cave they had been taking shelter in and set me down in the back. He sat down next to me. The others had been quiet before but now they were all asking if I was okay.

"He's going to be fine. He's just exhausted." Kiba told them.

"Why did he collapse like that? He was doing just fine up until then." Tsume asked.

"He was poisoned, I think." Kiba answered, making it sound like he came up with that so they wouldn't know I was talking.

"Why did he do that? Let them beat him like that? He could have fought back." Hige wondered.

"He was protecting us I think. He wanted them focusing on him so we wouldn't get hurt." Kiba replied in a very soft tone. "Let's let him rest. He needs it and so do we. We'll worry about what to do tomorrow."

They all nodded. Blue and Hige slept together near the middle while Toboe snuggled up next to Tsume who was near the entrance. Kiba laid down next to me and I drifted off.

A couple hours later I woke up freezing. I just couldn't stop shaking. Next to me Kiba woke up.

"Are you cold?" He whispered.

I nodded and curled in tighter on myself to try and warm up. My back was to him so I didn't see when he moved to pull me closer to him. He pulled me flush against his chest and wrapped his arms around my waist. I slowly stopped shivering and was able to relax and fall asleep again.

The next time I woke up light was streaming through the opening in the cave. The first thing I noticed was that I was _sore_. I tried to move only to have arms tighten around my waist. I turned in their grip to meet Kiba's cerulean eyes. He had loosened his hold ever so slightly to let me turn around but he tightened them again when I stopped moving.

"The others have gone off to look for food and to make sure those people didn't follow us."

I nodded and relaxed again.

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a rowdy Toboe and Hige bringing in a fresh kill with Tsume and Blue following behind. Kiba was still holding me but he let me go as I tried to stand. Everyone went quiet as they watched me. It took me a minute but I eventually got to my feet with a little help from Kiba. I walked over to the kill on my own but I could feel Kiba hovering over me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"How are you feeling Gin? Better?" Toboe asked.

I smiled and nodded.

"You look like hell." Tsume commented.

I snorted. _That_ wasn't surprising. And then my stomach growled loudly and everyone burst out laughing. They all shut up and we ate after that.

After I had my fill I walked out of the cave to go to the river that was near by. Kiba decided he would follow. To make sure I didn't drown, I guess.

When I reached the river I walked right in and sat down leaning against the bank. I knew Kiba was there watching me. I dunked my head under water and scrubbed all the blood and dirt out of it. I surfaced only to find Kiba directly behind me. He sat down with his legs on either side of me with his feet in the water. I tilted my head backward to look at him. He was being awfully clingy. It wasn't like him. He must have read the question in my eyes because he spoke.

"You scared me last night. I thought I was going to lose you… I didn't realize how much you meant to me until I almost lost you."

He pulled me up out of the water laying down as he did so, pulling me with him. I was hovering over him with my knees on either side of his waist and my hands below his arms. He reached a hand up to touch my cheek. "Humph, I'm not about to die and leave you alone. I wouldn't be much of a protector if I did that." I told him with frown. He smoothed out the frown lines on my forehead with his hand. I sighed. "Why are you worried? I'm fine."

"I can't help it. I just am. Promise me you'll be more careful from now on." When I didn't answer right away he switched our positions and pinned me down. "Promise me! I'm not gunna watch you get killed." I saw nothing but fiery determination in his eyes.

"I promise." I said sighing.

"Good, I'll hold you to that promise." He said before getting up, dragging me with him. "Are you ready to head back? You should rest for the remainder of the day and tonight. The moon is full so you should be healed by morning."

I nodded and we walked back.

I slept most of the rest of the day. I woke up once and found that there was a rabbit waiting for me. I ate gratefully before going back to sleep. All the while I don't think Kiba ever left my side and I don't think he was going to until he was absolutely positive I was okay.

When night came he laid down next to me and pulled me against him like the night before. His presence was comforting and we both fell into blissful oblivion.

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><p>Was it horrible? Did you like it? Review please!<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! Please don't kill me! And if you wouldn't mind I would appriciate reviews. even if it's just a one word review please send it! Reviews make me want to write :)

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><p>The next morning I woke up feeling much better. I was stiff but my wounds had healed in the night. Everyone else was still sleeping so I carefully got up and tiptoed out of the cave. Looking back to make sure everyone was still asleep I set out into the forest. I lifted my nose to the sky and scented. I could smell elk. I rotated my ears and concentrated on the vibrations through the ground.<p>

Once I pinpointed their direction I set off. I got within a hundred yards and stopped to see where the wind was coming from. I was coming from my right so I rotated around the herd until the wind was blowing in my face. I then slowly stalked forward, stopping in a thicket to choose my kill. There was a huge buck on the outside of the herd directly in front of me. He was big but if I could kill him he would feed us all.

I continued forward until I was about ten feet from him. I coiled my muscles and then sprang. He looked up and was about to run but it was too late. I was at his throat and he collapsed. The rest of the herd bolted. When I was sure he was dead I let go to rest for a minute.

I grabbed onto one of his antlers and started dragging him back to the cave. When I got there everyone was awake. I pulled my kill into the clearing as everyone came to meet me.

"Wow, look how big he is!" Toboe exclaimed.

"Why didn't you wake me up? I could have helped you." Kiba asked.

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"Well if he can hunt he must be okay then." Tsume commented.

I nodded.

"Yeah, he looks a lot better than yesterday." Toboe agreed.

I could tell Hige was getting impatient. I went over and took the first bite and everyone soon followed. Once we were done eating we left. We stuck to the top of the cliff until we were past that crazy city below. We climbed down the cliff and continued on.

The green turned to white and it was snowing again. Kiba got that focused look on his face so I knew we must be getting close. We couldn't see or smell anything yet but we had to be relatively close by now.

In the snow storm we were in a staggered line behind Kiba. I was behind him followed by Tsume, Hige, Blue and then Toboe. Blue and Toboe seemed to be struggling in the storm but weren't complaining. Hige noticed and stopped Kiba. We found shelter in an old building of some sort. Kiba was restless at the entrance. He urged the others to continue but they didn't want to move until morning. Kiba left on his own. I moved to follow him.

"Gin, you're going too?" Toboe asked.

I nodded.

"Take care of that bonehead until we get there. Don't go getting killed either." Tsume growled.

I nodded again before setting off to catch up with Kiba. Once I caught up with him we continued running. The snow eventually stopped but the wind was still blowing fiercely. As we cleared a rise Darcia's Keep came into view. Kiba stopped momentarily. The look that crossed his face could have sent the Devil running. At that moment he became completely focused. Nothing else entering his mind except for one thing: Cheza. We ran toward the Keep at full speed.

Inside the Keep was even more depressing than the outside. It looked to have been abandoned for decades. We knew what was there though. The scent of lunar flowers became stronger the further we went along with the stench of a Noble. We came to a door and without hesitation Kiba threw it open.

"Cheza!" Kiba shouted as she came into view.

"Kiba." She smiled.

Immediately I took in the new surroundings. A harmless woman to the right against the wall. A body on a platform in the center. And next to the platform was Darcia. I knew immediately that he would be trouble. He seemed different from the time we saw him last. Less… stable. When he looked up my thoughts were confirmed. His eye looked crazed and insane.

Cheza ran toward us unaware of the danger behind her. As soon as he moved I responded. I wasn't fast enough. He grabbed the back of Cheza's neck and lifted her. She screamed in obvious terror. Darcia removed his mask and as he did so he threw Cheza against a pillar lining the center of the room. She let out that high-pitched cry and I resisted the urge to cover my ears.

Kiba burst into action, charging Darcia. I went to Cheza. I watched them face off, glad that Cheza was unconscious for this. She may not be able to see but she doesn't like fighting.

Out of nowhere that old man came bursting in and shot at Kiba. Kiba was quick, though, and dodged the shot. As two more humans entered I heard Darcia drop his sword and walk off. The old man took aim at Kiba and from out of nowhere Blue jumped in front of him. The others entered soon after her.

I noticed the woman who had been standing idly to the side as fear suddenly appeared on her features and she looked up. She called to Darcia as an explosion went off behind her.

Kiba tried to run to us but another shot through the roof cut him off. As the floor became unstable beneath us I had to run. Picking Cheza up I took off down a corridor with those humans following along with Blue. We rounded a corner and came face to face with black armored soldiers. Blue charged and knocked one of them down and pointed with her ear and shouted which way to go.

I turned and our escape was cut off. I handed Cheza to the human man and charged, trying to create an opening. I managed to break through but a blast from one of those spears knocked me out long enough for the soldiers to take Cheza, the humans and Blue before I could stop them. Kiba came up behind me at full speed. He glanced at me and I nodded before taking off after him.

When we got out into the open we could hear Cheza calling Kiba. A ship lowered a platform with soldiers on it. They shot at us with their spears. Once close enough Kiba jumped onto the platform. I followed and somehow they managed to knock us both off. We landed on the ground running unlike the unlucky soldier who fell with us. We continued to run after the ship until an earsplitting noise was emitted. The ships went into Technicolor and my vision blurred and went black.

When I came to I was no longer in a snowy area. The area around me, as far as the eye could see, was bone dry. A desert wasteland. There were rocky outcroppings here and there and I was resting underneath one. I sat up and looked around, puzzled. I had no recollection of how I had gotten here.

I got up slowly and winced. My entire body hurt like you wouldn't believe. I scented the air. Nothing. I couldn't even tell which direction I had come from. I closed my eyes for a moment, took an irritated breath, and started walking east. I could already tell… This was going to be _fun…_NOT.

Three days later found me in the same fucking desert. I was hungry, dehydrated, exhausted near to my breaking point, irritated beyond belief, and, now I was seeing things. What did I tell you? Fun right? Not… I wanted to bash my head against the hardest surface I could find. If I had met anyone at that point I probably would have ripped their throats out if they tried to talk to me. And it was just my luck that I happened to find a town. I would have skipped it if I hadn't needed water so bad.

As I stalked into the town most people shied away from the murderous vibes I was giving off, but _of course_, it's just my fucking luck that it is here that I find out that bastard who used to 'own' me was still on my trail.

Three wolves and three humans stalk toward me from behind. I ignore them, hoping they'll go away. But nothing is ever that easy is it? The wolves charged at me. I was so irate, and probably almost psychotic at this point, that I was given a boost in power as anger normally gives you.

The wolves slumped, lifeless, at my feet. I looked up at the remaining three humans. They flinched and I felt a taut smile cross my lips. In a burst of speed I was at their throats in seconds. Two I killed within seconds of each other and I injured the third severely before I noticed something at his belt that stopped me in my tracks. A canteen. I approached him and he obviously cowered away from me. I grabbed onto the canteen and ripped it from his belt. I unscrewed the cap and my heart leapt with joy. It was full. I drank it all and felt my irritation and psychosis melt away.

When I was done I tossed the canteen back at the man and simply walked away. Now that my need for water was filled I could continue. Food wasn't a priority since I had eaten just before the Keep.

I left the town and back into the desert. I was soon wishing that I had searched the others to see if they had canteens.

Two days had passed and I was now in a barren canyon land. It was much the same as the desert only, thankfully, there was more shade. The downside was it was also a maze. I slowly made my way through, doubling back several times. I wasn't returning to my psychotic state as of yet but I was near collapsing. I hadn't given myself a proper rest in close to a week. Why? Kiba. Yep, I was totally going to blame it on him. Leave me alone. If you were in my shoes you'd be doing the exact same thing. Of course I couldn't bring myself to be pissed at him for running off because of this bond that I could feel. Okay that's not entirely true. I was slowly starting to realize that I was falling for him. Although I was sure that the bond had something to do with that. Like it was a by-product of the bond or something.

Well it's not like it's unusual in our merry band. I had noticed the looks shared between Toboe and Tsume. Somewhere along the way the love Toboe felt had become mutual. And, of course, the relationship between Blue and Hige was obvious. It was also accepted in wolf society for two males to end up together. It happened all the time, more so in recent years due to the decline in females. And I'm rambling… in my head… maybe I am losing it…

I looked up as I saw men on horseback coming at me with bows and arrows raised. I wearily took my wolf form as I fought to stay on my feet. Maybe I should have rested more.

As soon as they saw my wolf form they lowered their weapons and dismounted. One started talking to me but I couldn't hear him. My vision swam and I felt sick all of a sudden. The next thing I know the ground is rushing to meet me and I black out.

When I came to my head hurt like hell. I opened my eyes and I was inside a tent or something. An old man was sitting next to a fire. He had red face paint, a headband with feathers in it, and animal skin clothing. It finally clicked where I was. I was in an Indian encampment.

He looked to me when I sat up.

"How are you feeling?"

I sighed. The least I could do in response to them saving me was give them an answer. "I'm fine… thank you." I mumbled.

I moved to get up before my legs collapsed underneath me.

"You shouldn't try to move to much. You are dehydrated, hungry and very exhausted." He pulled a pouch over to him and then handed it to me. "Drink."

I blinked and then took it. At my first gulp I was surprised to find that it was fresh milk. I drank the whole thing not even stopping to breathe. When I had finally drained it completely I sat gasping for air as the old man smiled. He then placed a pile of dried meat in front of me. I looked up at him and he nodded. I ate it all in about a minute, almost choking a couple times. When I was done I sighed and leaned back on my hands. I felt sooo much better. I looked back at the old man.

"Thank you very much. I really appreciate all your help." I said quietly. It seemed I wasn't comfortable talking with anyone except Kiba.

"Tell me, what brought you all the way out here?"

"I'm looking for a friend. Have any other wolves passed through here?"

"I'm afraid not. You are the first wolf we have seen in a long time."

"I see."

A young man entered then. I remembered that he was one of the men who I had first encountered before my black out. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. He also had the red face paint although it was in a different pattern. He also had a headband with a single feather and the animal skin clothing.

"Oh, you're awake. I was just coming to see how you were." He smiled.

I stood, no longer weak from dehydration and hunger. "I am sorry but I really must continue. Thank you for helping me."

I started to leave.

"Wait! Are you sure you have to go? You could stay here." The young man offered.

"Eek, this one has somewhere he needs to be. We mustn't deter him from his task." The old man told the younger, Eek.

"Yes Elder." Eek said, resigning himself.

"May we meet again and good luck on your quest." The Elder smiled.

I gave a small smile in return. "Thank you."

I ducked out of the entrance. I now realized that what I had been in was not a tent but a teepee. There were a couple dozen in all. There were horses, dogs, and people all happily moving about the encampment. A few looked at me in curiosity and watched as I made my way back into the dry landscape.

Eek came up behind me on his horse. "You don't want to go that way. The land is so dry that it is now called the desert's bones." He told me of the legend that anyone who ventures in and rests beneath a huge patch of grass will experience true happiness.

Despite his words I felt that was where I needed to go.

"That is where I need to go, regardless of landscape or legends."

He looked at me in mild surprise before recovering quickly. "Let me show you the fastest way then."

I nodded as he guided his horse in the direction of the desert's bones.

About a half hour later found us staring out into a flat and barren wasteland. The desert's bones was a fitting name. I started out before stopping and turning to Eek.

"Thank you for showing me the way. Also if you happen to come across three wolves looking for me and the one I'm looking for, tell them where I went but please don't mention I can speak."

He looked at me strangely before nodding. I gave a weak smile before running off into the desert, a small black spot on the horizon my destination.


	10. Chapter 10

WARNING: YAOI AHEAD!

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><p>Walking steadily toward that black patch I was slowly becoming exhausted again. The sun was sucking out all my strength. At some point, however, the sky became covered with clouds. It was a welcomed relief. But once again I had let my impulses move me before my body was ready. By the time I made it to the huge patch of grass I was exhausted again.<p>

I moved around it in a slow circle, looking for an opening. When I did my blood ran cold. Kiba was lying underneath it, looking very skinny and near death. I stepped forward only to stop when I scented something very faint. That grass was giving off a toxin. If you inhaled too much you would be knocked unconscious. I held my breath before going in and dragging Kiba out to a safe distance.

And then a black armored car showed up and those soldiers from the Keep stepped out. I had no choice but to run. I quickly picked Kiba up and took off at the fastest pace I could manage. Two welcomed faces were speeding toward me. Tsume and Hige. They charged right past me and took on the soldiers. Eek followed seconds later along with Toboe.

Toboe stayed with me while the others took on the soldiers. Hige killed one while Eek killed another. The plant's toxins took out the other two. Everyone then rushed back to me and Kiba.

Eek knelt down and examined Kiba. He told us that his spirit had been taken and the Elder could call it back. Eek took Kiba and placed him on his horse's back and then we all ran back to the camp.

It was already getting dark when we arrived back and by the time the Elder was ready darkness had settled. Tsume, Toboe, Hige and I all piled into the teepee along with the Elder and Kiba. The Elder started the ritual without a word.

He started singing a very old song and I couldn't understand the words. With his right hand he was emptying sand in a steady line and he had a maraca in his left. When he finally stopped singing all the sand in his hand had drained and he put the maraca down. He seemed to capture something in the air before angling his hands at Kiba. He opened his hands and blew something toward Kiba.

And then, Kiba opened his eyes.

"Kiba… Kiba!" Toboe whined.

"Remember us?" Hige asked.

"Hey guys. Long time no see."

We all gave a collective sigh.

"I suppose you think that's funny, huh?" Hige asked, showing his concern.

"You scared us half to death! Where have you been?" Toboe asked in a accusing tone that showed just how worried he'd been.

"Some place peaceful. It was almost like Paradise." Kiba replied weakly.

"But, it wasn't, right?" Tsume asked.

"No, they kicked me out." Kiba said before closing his eyes again.

We all tensed.

"Do not worry. Your friend had returned to you." The Elder assured.

We all sighed in relief. After a couple minutes we left Kiba to get some rest with the Elder watching over him.

We sat on a rock staring up at the red moon for what felt like hours. Hige broke the silence asking Toboe what he wanted to do. Toboe had wanted to stay with the humans apparently.

Kiba came out of the teepee behind the Elder. He paused to soak in some moonlight. He looked relaxed.

"You okay now?" Tsume questioned.

"Yeah, guess I overslept. I felt like I've been dreaming for a really long time. A strange and wonderful dream."

"What your spirit beheld was The Garden of Eternity." The Elder told him.

"Garden of Eternity?" Kiba echoed.

"You experienced joy and tranquility unlike any you've known before, yes?"

"Yeah."

"That is enough to satisfy most people. They embrace the illusion and never look back. But for you that bliss was not enough or you wouldn't have returned."

"Yes, there's somewhere else I have to go."

"Tell me, why are you searching for Paradise?"

"I have to, to survive." "I see," The Elder smiled before slowly walking off.

"So what happened to you in that garden place?" Tsume asked.

"Nothing, except I met a nice girl." Kiba responded.

"You? Met a girl? No way!" Hige asked incredulously.

"I shoulda guessed. No wonder you seem less uptight." Tsume chuckled.

"Wait… I don't get it…" Toboe said.

"And you wont for a few years." Tsume responded.

"Aw man, Kiba has all the luck…" Hige complained.

"But why cant I get it now?" Toboe asked.

"The whole time I was there it felt like I was forgetting something." Kiba said.

"You mean Cheza?" Tsume questioned.

"Not just her. I mean you guys. I… thought you were dead." Kiba told us.

Hige's reaction was instantaneous. "You gotta be kidding! Do know how hard we busted our butts trying to find you?"

"Oh you did? Sorry, I didn't know." Was Kiba's answer.

"That brain of yours is never gunna change is it?" Hige sighed.

We all started laughing.

Once we calmed down Kiba turned serious. "Let's go."

We turned to Toboe. Who had his head down. He decided to stick with us and we were finally on our way again, pack intact. Eek, his horse and dog saw us off a ways before we finally headed off.

I ran next to Kiba with Tsume just behind us, then Toboe, and then Hige. The sun was rising before too long. I heard a howl in the distance and Toboe stopped to listen before continuing behind us.

Midday we slowed to a walk. Once again the scenery was changing. The desert was giving out into a greener landscape once again. I couldn't have been happier. I was so sick of desert. And I was in a much better mood now that I wasn't alone anymore.

We continued on through a thick forest. I noticed throughout the day that Kiba had been stealing glances at me. Every time he would look over my skin would tingle and heat up. I couldn't figure it out. Normally, him just looking at me doesn't affect me.

We stopped for the night in a cave in the forest. I was near the opening looking up toward the moon. My skin heated and started tingling again. I looked behind me to see Kiba staring straight back with a look I couldn't decipher.

Tsume and Hige knew something was going on but they didn't say anything, so when Kiba guided me out of the cave and said we were going for a walk and not to wait up for us, they didn't object.

I walked out ahead of him and could feel his eyes on my back. I was having a hard time concentrating on where I was going. Out of no where I felt him rush at me. I turned just in time to be tackled.

"Oof! Kiba!" I gasped as the air left my lungs.

He immediately went to my neck and started sucking and nipping on the sensitive skin there.

I took a shaky breath. "Kiba?"

"As soon as I was out of that garden the only thing I could think about was you and how much I wish that it had been you and not that girl." He was softly nibbling my ear as he whispered into it. I shuddered at the heat in his voice. "And now that I have you here I'm not letting you go." To make his point he pinned me down with my arms above my head and he sat on my hips.

He worked his way away from my ear, across my jaw and to my lips. He paused, our mouths barely touching, and looked at me. I saw lust in his eyes but it couldn't overshadow the honest caring that was behind it.

He pushed one of his legs between mine and pushed up. I let out a surprised moan as I arched my back. He smirked before taking over my mouth. He pushed up with his knee again forcing out a very embarrassing noise. He immediately pushed his tongue in. I battled with his tongue silently shouting in victory when I won and pushed my way into his mouth. When the need for air became too much we broke away.

While he was dazed I broke his hold on my wrists and flipped us over. I smiled down at his disgruntled face before biting down his neck and onto his collar bone before moving up to his ear.

"If you want to top you have to earn it." I breathed into his ear. I felt him shiver beneath me.

I pulled him out of his jacket and his shirt was followed seconds later. He unzipped my hoodie and I shrugged out of it. His hand ghosted over my lower back as he attempted to take my shirt off. I threw my head back and moaned in surprise.

Once he got my shirt off he continued to rub that spot on my lower back, right above my pant line. Shivers racked my body as the pleasure coursed through me. He took the opportunity to switch our positions. I looked up at him.

"I had no idea your back was so sensitive." He teased.

"It's news to me too." I huffed, trying to calm my breathing.

Kiba had other plans. He attacked my neck again sucking and biting at the juncture where my neck and shoulder meet. I moaned quietly as he continued down my chest after leaving a mark. I tangled one hand in his hair while the other went to his chest and shoulder.

I brushed right below his left shoulder blade and he paused in shock to moan. I grinned before switching our positions yet again.

"Looks like I'm not the only one with a surprise turn on spot." I grinned as he half-heartedly glared at me.

I kissed down his chest leaving my own mark on his ribs. I then began to toy with his nipples. His breath hitched as I laved my tongue over one while pinching the other before switching. Continuing down I kissed and teased at his stomach and pant line, watching the muscles jerk and flex.

I looked up and saw that he had his eyes closed. A sly smirk appeared across my features. Keeping my eyes on his face, I mouthed his erection through his pants. His eyes flew open and he barely choked back a scream. A hand flew into my hair, tangling itself and pulling roughly. Surprisingly it felt good as I moaned into his member. He moaned in return at the vibrations it caused.

I pulled off his pants along with his boxers. He looked down at me with his other hand now covering his mouth. I placed my hands on his hips. I smiled devilishly at him before gently blowing on him. He tensed and I continued to tease him, my tongue shooting out to lick the slit. Just watching his reactions was making me unbearably hard. I licked from the base to tip and gave a small groan in response to the whimper that escaped him.

"G-gin… please."

That right there was enough to send shivers down my spine and make me moan. That was fucking _hot._ I took him all in one go and he gave a surprised shout. I was really surprised at how vocal Kiba was in comparison to his quiet, serious attitude.

His hand tightened in my hair and I couldn't help the low growl that escaped. Kiba arched his back in response. Creating a vacuum with my mouth I went down as far as I could, sucking harshly. I pulled back to the tip and then went back down. My tongue massaging the vein on the underside of his dick. I grazed my teeth against the sides. He was moaning freely now.

"Gin… ah! St-stop!… I cant-nngh!"

I let go of him and came back up and he leaned forward for a kiss. His hand that had been covering his mouth went back to my lower back. I bucked into him and we both moaned at the sensation it caused.

"You have too many clothes on…" He growled, switching our positions.

He pulled my pants and boxers off in one go and threw them somewhere. He put three fingers to my lips. I took them into my mouth coating them evenly and torturing Kiba in the process. Kiba removed his fingers and moved them to my entrance. I tangled a hand in his hair and wrapped the other around his neck.

"Are you ready?"

I nodded slowly. He slowly massaged the tight ring of muscle before slipping a finger inside. I'll be honest, it felt strange as hell but didn't hurt. He added another after a minute and it still didn't hurt. It wasn't until the third slowly entered that I felt some pain. I concentrated on my breathing and remaining relaxed.

After a minute he felt I was ready. He removed his fingers and lined himself up. He pushed in all in one go and I had to choke back a scream. He was _a lot_ bigger than his fingers. I fisted my hand in his hair and I heard him hiss.

"Don't you dare fucking move." I grit out between my teeth.

"S-sorry. I thought it would be easier if I did it faster…" He gasped as I pulled harder on his hair.

We lay there panting for a long time. Eventually I let up on his hair and I heard him sigh in relief against my neck. I took a deep breath and rolled my hips. His breathing hitched above me and he let out a quiet moan. It didn't hurt quite as much anymore so I bucked up against him, giving him the okay.

He slowly pulled out before thrusting back in. I sealed my lips to his as I gently pushed back against his thrusts. The pain had died completely and I was left with a slowly building pleasure. And then fireworks went off behind my eyes as Kiba hit _something._ I threw my head back and moaned loudly, arching into him. He used the new position to keep hitting that spot driving me mad with the pleasure.

Every breath I took came out in gasps and moans as continued to shake my world down. I could already feel my impending release. He snaked a hand between us and grabbed my cock and started pumping at a fast pace. I shouted and bucked into his hand. I raked my fingernails across the sensitive spot under his shoulder blade. He moaned and increased his speed. We were both becoming desperate for release.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I threw my head back and screamed. He latched onto my shoulder and bit down, drawing blood and groaning as he released. My body went limp and I panted. He released his hold on my shoulder and licked the wound clean.

He pulled out and laid down next to me, pulling me to him. I turned around to face him. He kissed me. This kiss wasn't like the harsh needy ones that we had shared earlier. This one was slow, deep and content. The kiss broke when I turned my head to the side to yawn. Kiba chuckled and pulled me tighter against him. The smile on his face grew and his eyes just seemed to light up. I looked at him curiously.

"Why the big smile all of a sudden?" I mumbled.

"Because you're finally mine. I finally have you all to myself." His smile grew bigger still.

I smiled. "Idiot, I've always been yours." I paused for a minute. "Do you think we should go back to the cave? It'd probably be better if they didn't see us like this."

"I suppose. For the sake of Toboe's innocence and because I don't think Hige would ever let us hear the end of it if he caught us." Kiba sighed and we both got slowly to out feet.

We dressed slowly and headed back to the cave in a content silence. He grabbed my hand half way back and I looked over to see him blushing slightly. I couldn't help but laugh quietly, even as I squeezed his hand. He looked over at me, obviously not happy with my laughing and wondering what was so funny.

"We just did all that and you're going to blush about holding hands? That's seriously adorable." I snickered, Kiba's blush darkening and he glared at me.

He pushed me against a tree and kissed me, only letting me go when I was breathless. He grinned and having gotten his revenge we continued our way back. Once there we found that only Toboe was actually asleep. As soon as the other two saw us they got the biggest grins on their faces.

"I knew it! Told you Tsume." Hige said smiling at the gray wolf. He paused and then looked back at us with obvious mischief in his eyes. "Sooo…. Who topped?"

It was my turn to blush as Kiba laughed.

"Wow, Gin actually let you top him? I would have thought that Gin would have topped." Hige commented.

I laughed while still blushing at Kiba's indignant glare.

"Whatever…" Kiba stomped into the back of the cave pulling me with him.

He laid down and I settled in next to him. As the laughter of the other two died down I turned to Kiba and snuggled up close. Within minutes sleep overtook me and I fell into blissful oblivion with Kiba right behind me.

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><p>Ugh... that seriously sucked... this is only my second lemon so it probably sucks and it was seriously hard to write. It took me two days to complete it. I hope Kiba isn't too OOC. Please review and tell me how I can improve! And thank you to everyone that has reviewed. You have helped greatly :)<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Tomorrow, December 11th is my birthday! And you know what I want? Lots and lots of reviews! It would make me very very happy! XD

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><p>I woke up the next morning feeling rested but was my ass <em>sore<em>. I wriggled out of Kiba's arms and grimaced as I stood. I tip-toed around the others to look out of the cave.

"Gin?" Kiba mumbled as he sat up.

I turned around and smiled. He stood up and walked to stand beside me.

"How are you feeling? I wasn't too rough was I?"

I shook my head. He nodded. I lifted my nose to the wind and scented. The scent of boar filled the air. I turned to Kiba and smiled challengingly. He smirked back and we ran off in the direction of the scent.

After ten minutes of running the scent was overpowering. I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. Squealing sounded from our left. We jumped out of the way just as the biggest boar I've ever seen came rampaging into the clearing. It turned to face me with Kiba circling behind it.

I could already tell, this was going to be tough. It had to weigh twice as much as me not to mention the six inch tusks and deadly hooves. It charged at me and I jumped, bouncing off a tree back at the boar, leaving a gash on its side. It screamed in fury before turning to charge Kiba. He grabbed onto a tusk and was thrown six feet to land on his paws with the broken tusk in his jaws.

We circled around together. When we were on either side we rushed in. It faced Kiba and I saw my chance and took it. I dove for a leg and crushed its front right leg. It collapsed, unable to complete its advance on three legs. I stood over it before biting down and breaking its neck.

We rested for a moment before we heard Toboe's questioning howl. Kiba howled back and we waited for the others to find us. It didn't take them long. Tsume entered the clearing first followed by Hige. Toboe burst through the bushes going too fast to stop before running into me. We tumbled in a ball before coming to a stop a few feet away. I was flat on my back with Toboe in a heap on top of me.

I know what you're thinking. I should have been able to get out of the way. And you're right, I should have. Why didn't I? Because my guard was down. Not the best situation for me but, hey, there wasn't any real danger at the moment besides being tackled by a pup.

"Owww… Sorry Gin." Toboe said.

I grunted, sitting up. Toboe looked at my shoulder noticing Kiba's bite mark.

"Gin did someone hurt you? You have a bite mark on your shoulder."

My hand flew to my neck and Kiba, Tsume, and Hige all started laughing. I swear, if there was ever a moment where I wanted to kill them all, this was it.

"Why are you laughing? Did I say something?" Toboe asked innocently.

I stood up taking Toboe with me.

"It's just a little lov-" Hige started before I punched him in the back of the head. "Ow! That hurt Gin!"

I sent him the most potent death glare I could manage. He put his hands up in surrender and smiled sheepishly. That only sent Kiba and Tsume into more hysterical fits of laughter.

"Wait, what's going on?" Toboe asked confused.

I shook my head and sighed. Kiba and Tsume finally calmed down.

"Don't worry about it Toboe. It's nothing." Kiba said, still laughing quietly.

I glared at him too. I huffed and faced away from them with my arms folded, pouting. Yes, I was pouting. Kiba walked up and hugged me from behind.

"Never thought you could be so childish. It's cute." Kiba teased. I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. "What? I didn't mean that as a bad thing."

I saw Toboe on my other side. His eyes were huge and his expression was quite comical. I turned to face him and gave a small smile.

"So you and Kiba…" You could see the gears working in his head. All of a sudden he broke out into a huge smile. "Good for you Gin!"

A small blush tinted my cheeks as we all started laughing. Hige's stomach could be heard over the laughter and that sent everyone into heaving fits. When we finally managed to calm down and breathe for a moment we started to eat. The boar was nothing but bone in about twenty minutes. We continued on after a short rest.

Once again the forest ran out into snow and it started snowing. Couldn't we just pick a climate and stick to it?

The clouds ahead of us flashed, reflecting light off the ground. Toboe noticed the light and pointed it out to the others. Tsume echoed my thoughts of light reflection. Hige pointed out the scent of smoke. We stopped at a rise. There was a domed city two or three miles ahead of us that was in the middle of a war. We headed straight for it.

When we got close enough we could see the soldiers from Darcia's Keep, Jagara's soldiers. And with that the decision was made. Into the city we went. We split up, killing as many of Jagara's soldier's as we could. We teamed up to beat the heavily armored ones and split up again to take on the smaller ones.

We talked to a man that had been in the city where we first met Cheza. He pointed us in the direction of Jagara's Keep and we were off. We ran the rest of the day and through the night only stopping to take short breaks. The next day, about noon, we came to a city. At first glance there was nothing that caught my eye.

Then, that unmistakable scent. The scent that I will hate for all eternity. That bastard was back. And he brought friends. They surrounded us and we readied ourselves for attack.

"Where's the female, number 13? You said you'd bring all of them." He glared at me but I could see the devious smirk behind it. I tensed. He was lying and we both knew it, but my pack didn't.

"What are you talking about?" Tsume shouted.

"13 promised to bring you all to me. It is his job after all. You four will be a nice addition to my collection."

"Why would he do anything for you? You tried to kill him and us!" Hige countered.

"Fool, that was merely an act. I needed you to trust him, but now his part in this is over and you are mine." He snapped his fingers and his men rushed us.

All of us managed to escape except for Toboe. He was knocked out and thrown into the back of a truck that sped off. I was blindsided by a punch to my jaw. It sent me flying onto my back. A foot planted itself on my chest. I opened my eyes to see Tsume standing above me. Kiba and Hige were standing behind him. Hige had a look of shocked disbelief. Kiba had the expression of hurt anger. It killed me that Kiba actually believed that bastard instead of me.

"Bastard! How dare you!" He lifted his foot to kick me.

I rolled and skidded out of the way before taking off after the truck that had taken Toboe. Tsume, Kiba and Hige were hot on my heels. I showed them why I had been one of the most efficient killers in my old life. I took off, exceeding twice my normal speed, leaving them in the dust.

I followed the car to an old compound forty miles out of the city. It looked old and like it had been abandoned for fifty years. There were rocky outcroppings all around it. I took to the top of one a ways out so I could plan my attack.

I heard the others catching up. I was so used to not having to worry about them that I tuned them out and focused on the base. Big mistake. Tsume came at me full speed and knocked me off the rock, thirteen feet down, landing on top of me knocking the breath from my lungs. I gasped as the pain registered. There were several rocks digging into my back and then there was Tsume's weight keeping me from getting my breath back.

I coughed as I knocked him off. I wasn't going to be able to sit and plan my approach. I turned away from them and ran toward the base. I took down the guards outside before storming in. Guns went off but I ignored them, instead focusing on the men holding them. I found a stairwell leading down and jumped, landing at the bottom before taking off in the direction of Toboe's scent.

At the end I found Toboe with a knife to his throat, held by the man I hated so much. I didn't even stop to hear what he had to say. I plowed into them, taking the knife to my left shoulder as I knocked Toboe clear. And finally, _finally_, I felt the satisfaction of seeing fear in that man's eyes before I clamped down on his throat. It was over. It was finally over. That man will never plague my life again.

I looked over at Toboe. He was scared. No doubt of me. But he let me pick him up and carry him. We got about ten steps before Tsume came into view. Like I had done earlier, he didn't even slow. When he made contact he grabbed onto Toboe before punching me hard enough to send me back into the wall about twelve feet behind me.

I slammed into the wall hitting my head. I sat leaned against the wall with my head down as I watched little balls of light dance in front of my eyes. I heard more than saw Tsume approach me. I didn't even move. I couldn't really blame him for being pissed. He loved Toboe and thought it was my fault he had been kidnapped. I would have been pissed at me too.

He grabbed me by the neck and pulled me up, slamming me against the wall. I groaned quietly.

"How could you? We trusted you and this is what you do with it?" Tsume shouted.

I opened my eyes to look at him.

"Tsume stop." Kiba said in an emotionless monotone.

"Why should I?" Tsume snapped.

"Put him down and walk away." Kiba said threateningly.

Reluctantly Tsume let go of me. I dropped to my feet and nearly fell before falling to lean against the wall behind me. I held my shoulder where the knife had got me and looked at Kiba, pleadingly, begging him to figure out what had really happened. His eyes were full of fury and barely masking the pain behind it. He turned away.

"Let's go."

Tsume gave me one last glare before reluctantly following the others out of the base. I collapsed. I cried for the first time in a long time. I didn't know what I was supposed to do. How was I supposed to gain back their trust after something like this?

I sat there for the longest time, unmoving, unfeeling. I had nothing left. It felt as though my heart had been ripped from my chest and they had taken it with them. In a way I guess they did.

And yet, despite the pain, the exhaustion, and utter lack of will to continue, my body moved on its own. I walked out of the base and followed in the footsteps of the ones who had left me behind. I couldn't even see them but that was probably for the best. I was also downwind.

Eventually I made it to the ice flows. I continued to stay at a safe distance. Below me I noticed something huge in the water. It was headed straight for the pack at high speeds. I kicked my body into high gear, trying to keep pace with it. It shot out ahead of me and I heard crashing ice and Hige yell. When I finally saw it, Tsume and Kiba were on top of a big walrus trying to break through its thick hide.

It knocked them off and sent Kiba flying into a wall of ice. It moved toward him. I was able to knock Kiba out of the way but a tusk caught me in my side, pinning me to the ice. I grabbed onto the tusk and tried to break it but I couldn't get any leverage from my position.

The pack was less than thrilled to see me but they saved the complaints. Tsume and Hige latched on. Toboe seemed to snap as he ran at the beast, latching onto its eye. It reared back and fell backward into the ice taking Toboe, Hige and Tsume with it. Tsume and Hige surfaced soon after but Toboe was no where to be seen. Kiba ran to where they were.

The walrus surfaced a minute later thrashing about with Toboe attached to its eye. It ran through several blocks of ice, ice burgs and dove under water trying to get Toboe off. It launched out of the water through solid ice straight into a huge ice burg before falling back into the water. It was quiet for a few minutes after that.

Finally, just as we were about to assume the worst, the walrus surfaced bringing Toboe with it. It tossed him off and Toboe spun in the air to land on his feet. He snarled at the walrus before it finally collapsed.

The others ran to Toboe. It took me a little longer to get up and over to where they were. When I got there the walrus was dead and they were already eating. When I got there I didn't even attempt to get close to the kill. I just laid back against a block of ice twenty feet away. Kiba walked up to me.

"Let's go," He growled as he hauled me to my feet.

We stopped when the rest of the pack was out of earshot. He turned to face me.

"How could you betray us? How could you betray _me_? I _trusted_ you!" He snarled, letting the hurt into his voice.

"I didn't. He _lied_. How could you believe what he said? He wanted to hurt me in the worst way possible. By convincing you of my nonexistent betrayal and taking you away from me he was hoping I would break."

"He tricked us?"

I nodded.

"That's why you didn't fight back and why you went after Toboe. Even when Tsume nearly killed you, you didn't fight."

"He specializes in deceit and trickery."

"That man that was dead on the ground when we finally caught up to you, that was him wasn't it?"

I nodded.

"Why didn't I notice that? I'm sorry Gin. I should have seen that coming." He pulled me into a hug.

"Something tells me it's not going to be that easy to convince Tsume." I sighed.

"You may have to tell him yourself."

I nodded.

We walked back to where everyone was and it was no surprise that Tsume bared his fangs. I stopped ten feet away, not wanting to fight.

"Why did you bring him back?" Tsume snarled at Kiba.

"Because I finally figured out what actually happened. We were tricked Tsume. That human lied to us." Kiba responded.

"How can we believe that? Everything fits." Tsume charged. I wasn't able to dodge with my injuries. "And why Toboe?" He tackled me.

I gasped, fighting to keep air in my lungs.

"I-I'm sorry!" I gasped. It was really hard to breathe let alone talk with Tsume on top of me. Everyone except Kiba paused when they heard me speak for the first time. "I didn't mean for anyone to get involved with my past. You have every right to be angry with me but I didn't set you up. He's been tracking me. I found out when we were separated after Darcia's Keep."

"Why would he bother with that whole story then?" Tsume growled.

"He was hitting me in my weakest point. He was trying to break me."

"Your weakest point?" Toboe asked quietly.

"You guys. He knew that if he managed to turn you against me it would push me past my breaking point. And he almost succeeded."

They all paused. Tsume raised his fist and I flinched, closing my eyes waiting for it. The air rushed around my head as his fist struck the ice next to my head. I looked up at him.

"Let that serve as a warning for if you're lying." He growled before getting up.

I smiled wryly at that. That was plenty of incentive. I got up, wincing at the pain in my shoulder and side. Toboe walked up to me.

"Gin are you okay? I'm sorry we didn't believe you." He looked at me with big, concerned eyes.

I sighed and smiled. "I'm fine. It's okay. I'm not sure I would have figured it out either."

Everyone gradually went back to the kill. We stayed there well past dusk. When we finally left there was nothing but bone left to the kill and we were well rested.


	12. Chapter 12

So ya I'm not dead and I know it's been forever since I last updated and I am truly sorry for that. I thank everyone who has followed my story and again I am very sorry for making you wait so long for an update. Hopefully I will get the last few chapters up this week. I apologize again and I hope you enjoy the latest chapter!

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><p>My injuries were making our normal traveling pace quite difficult for me. Normally it wouldn't be a problem but the moon was only half full which halved its effectiveness for healing. For once I was lagging behind instead of Toboe. I was about ten feet behind the pack. Ahead of me Kiba stopped the pack to let me catch up.<p>

"Are you okay Gin?" Toboe asked.

I nodded as I tried to catch my breath. The look Kiba gave me was skeptical. He looked to the east where the sun was rising.

"We'll rest here for a while." Kiba decided.

I flopped down and let the ice and snow cool my body. I felt Kiba sit next to me before I drifted off.

Gentle fingers running through my hair woke me up. I chose not to move. I feigned sleep and let those relaxing fingers work themselves through my hair.

"Gin… Gin, wake up." Kiba called gently.

I slowly opened my eyes. The sun was setting. I had slept through most of the day and they just let me. I sat up and winced at how stiff I was. Sleeping through the day on hard ice was not good for the body.

I looked over at Kiba and he smiled gently.

"Do you feel better?" He asked.

I nodded and stood, stretching. I grimaced as my wounds made themselves known.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?" I asked, voice still gruff from sleep. Since everyone knew I could talk I just asked outright. No point in making them play charades when they know they don't have to.

"You were pushing yourself hard to try and keep our normal pace. Kiba decided that it would be best to let you sleep." Toboe replied with a smile.

I nodded before looking back at Kiba.

"Let's go," he said before heading off with us following.

When Jagara's Keep was finally in sight the moon had nearly become full. Kiba had slowed our traveling speed to one I would be able to manage until I healed. When the moon was ¾ the way full I was finally fully healed and we doubled our speed to make up for lost ground.

Hige led the way in through a small opening in the surrounding wall. We split off into groups to search the city. Hige and Toboe went in search of food while Kiba, Tsume and I went to check out the area surrounding the Keep.

We followed armored trucks to where they were entering the inner most part of the city. The entrance was heavily guarded. To attempt an entrance via the front would be completely suicidal so we opted to find another way in. A couple of hours had passed since we split up and we were resting in an alley.

"Thieves!" Some one shouted as two guys with sacks ran off.

"Remind you of anyone? Even this city has people like the old you." Kiba said, looking at Tsume.

"Yeah, looks that way. But it's guys like those who know the back allies better than anyone." Tsume smirked.

We followed them and Tsume cut them off once the two were far enough away not to get caught.

"What the hell do you want?" The leader of the two asked, although he didn't seem at all interested in the answer.

"I wanna talk." Tsume answered anyway.

"Wha-? Keep walkin' pal. I'm not in the mood for hand-outs. Go get your own food."

The guy's lackey nodded behind him.

"I just want to ask you a question." Tsume insisted.

"Look, I'm tired and hungry so leave me alone." He turned to leave but Kiba and I blocked off the path. "What's the deal? Hey, if you guys want to fight it's fine by me."

The thug kicked out behind him at Tsume who easily dodged and before the kid even knew he'd been hit he was against the wall and Tsume had the sack he was carrying. Tsume looked over at the other guy who smiled like 'uh…. Hi I'm just gunna stay over here.'

I heard a metallic click before the guy on the ground pulled a gun on Tsume. He fired several times before Kiba knocked the gun out of his hand. Tsume was now standing next to me without a scratch on him. However the same can't be said for the bag of food he was holding, which was now strewn all over the ground.

The other guy looked at Kiba before speaking for the first time. "You're the man."

We all looked at him. After that the two took us to another area just in case someone responded to the gun shots. Kiba's single-minded determination won them over and they led us to where large red cables ran toward the center of the city. The feeling we got from them was not pleasant. I wasn't looking forward to spending any length of time traveling along them and I knew the others felt the same. But unfortunately we had no choice. It was the only lead we had.

We thanked the two and started walking off.

"You know Tsume, the others might be waiting for us." Kiba voiced.

Tsume glanced back. "Do you want to turn back?" Kiba didn't respond. "Then let's keep going. Knowing Hige, I'm sure he'll catch up with us sooner or later. We just need to have a little faith." He smirked back at us before we all jumped down onto the cables and hurdled forward.

The buildings on either side of us started to change. They started to look cleaner and newer the closer to the Keep we got. We followed the cables all the way in and they took us beneath the Keep. We found our way into the building and started searching for what we came for.

"We've been to all kinds of places before but…" Tsume started.

"But what?" Kiba prompted.

"I've never felt such a sense of danger as I do here. Every hair on my body is on end. This stupid place is freaking me out and I don't like it." Tsume continued.

"Well there's something new." Kiba said.

"How's that?"

"Never expected to hear you whine so much."

"It's a normal reaction under the circumstances."

"Well why don't you just go back then?"

"And leave all the excitement to you? Not a chance pal." Tsume smirked.

At a cross-section of hallways Tsume paused behind us. "I smell something."

We looked back at him only to find that a door had closed, separating Tsume from us. We ran to the door and tried to open it but it was no use. We had no choice but to keep moving. We kept running until we came to another split. We could keep going straight or go right. Kiba only paused for a second before he chose the path to the right. We came to a door and without even pausing we pushed it open.

Inside over two dozen heavily armored soldiers waited for us. We immediately engaged. They all had those stupid shields and spears that shot sound waves and lasers at us. We were running and dodging trying to find an opening to strike. We were both quickly getting covered scratches and cuts from the soldiers' weapons.

One of the soldiers managed to get lucky and blasted Kiba into the air with their shield. The others quickly followed suit. He landed hard. A soldier raised his spear to deliver the final blow. I knocked the spear out of his hand as Kiba got to his feet and knocked the armor at his neck away and killed him. This frightened the other soldiers and we used that to our advantage, quickly taking out the rest, but not before we both were injured rather badly.

Silently we made our way to the staircase at the back of the room. We ascended slowly, hindered by pain. When we finally reached the top we pushed open the door and there inside in some kind of tank was Cheza. Kiba immediately ran to her. I followed more slowly.

"Are you alright? At last I finally found you." He put his hand on the glass separating them. "Why wont you answer me?"

I walked up beside him, looking up at Cheza and then over at Kiba.

"The white wolf… and his protector." Said a voice behind us. We spun around and there stood a woman in full battle regalia. I assumed this woman was Jagara. "You are the one. The wolf chosen by the flower. How beautiful you are."

Kiba snarled and ran at her. The floor started glowing in an intricate pattern and Kiba was stopped in his tracks unable to move. I advanced on Jagara from the right. Another pattern appeared around me and I was immobilized as well.

"I anticipated that a protector would be with the wolf I seek and I designed a spell to deal with you as well." Jagara smiled menacingly and walked past us. The pressure increased and our legs gave out.

She stopped in front of Cheza. "Come, open your eyes. Open them for my paradise." The glass cracked and that sparkling green water started leaking out.

Kiba snarled and I knew he could sense something by look that crossed his face.

"My prayers have been answered. Cheza, we must feast in celebration, don't you think?" Jagara started laughing.

Six large men entered the room. They injected both me and Kiba with something and I felt my strength leave my body and black encroaching on my vision. I saw three of the men pick up Kiba before I blacked out.

I woke up slowly and blinked my eyes, groaning at the pain in my head and body. My vision cleared slowly and I came to realize I was chained in the back corner of a room.

As I scanned the room I noticed some sort of contraption in the center of the room. My heart stopped when I saw the bundle of white fur on some sort of platform connected to the machine. I sighed in relief when I saw that he was still breathing. And then I heard Cheza start singing. The sadness in her song made my body tremble with the emotion her song carried.

Her song stopped and after a minute I heard Kiba start growling and start straining against his bonds. Something was happening. He was talking to Cheza, I was sure.

Something started happening with that machine Kiba was hooked up to. Kiba snarled and let out a battle howl, and pulled against his restraints. I followed his lead and started to try and get free. With nothing short of a Herculean effort we broke our bonds. Kiba let out another battle howl and raced up the machine to its top where a black cloud was forming. He hesitated only for a moment before jumping in.

I ran up to the machine to wait for him and to keep the meddlesome humans from interfering in any way.

And then I fell into an illusion, an image of a beautiful place. What I assumed to be Jagara's "paradise." But it was fake, paling in comparison to what I somehow knew the real thing was like.

The illusion broke and I woke up and quickly stood as the building started to collapse. The sphere in the center shattered and Kiba emerged from the center. I quickly fell in step beside him and we raced to find Cheza.

We made our way to the main ballroom. There we found everyone.

"What do you want? Get out!" Jagara commanded angrily.

"Paradise is ours, we're taking it back!" Kiba snarled and charged her. I rushed over to Hige and the others and watched, ready to attack if Kiba needed my help.

She blocked Kiba with her sword. He landed and turned to attack again but that pattern appeared and he was rooted to the spot. I was about to step in before I saw Kiba start walking despite the influence the magic had on him.

Hige rose from where he was and charged at Jagara, taking her by surprise. He landed hard on his injured shoulder and slid a few feet. He had opened up an opportunity for Kiba and he took it, biting into her neck. She staggered and struggled for breath. Darcia walked up behind her and she turned to him. He took her by surprise and ran her through with his sword. She staggered back a step before falling, dead.

All was silent for a moment.

Darcia broke the silence. "As I thought, you truly are the chosen wolf." He spoke to Kiba over his shoulder.

"What are you, I have to know. You're not a wolf, or a noble."

Darcia turned held out his hand and what looked like a large, black marble was in his palm.

"I was chosen as well. Now I understand. It is not merely that we search for Paradise, but that Paradise is calling for us." Darcia replied before walking away, leaving us to absorb what he had said.

But then, what he had said didn't matter anymore. Kiba took Cheza from the woman who was holding her. I retrieved Jagara's cape and gave it to Kiba to cover Cheza with. And all was as it should be.

Kiba was with Cheza and Tsume and Toboe were helping Hige. The pack was together again and we were back on track.

I observed quietly from the side, not needed for the moment. I felt happy but at the same time I felt an ache in my heart. I sighed as I watched the man and woman embrace and then looked back at Kiba and Cheza. I suppose you could say I was jealous of Cheza in that moment. She was the center of his love and attention. Of course I knew that he didn't love her as a mate but it still hurt.

"Gin…" Toboe called to me softly.

I looked over at him and 'hmmed' in question.

"Are you okay? You look so sad." He stared up at me with those big, soulful eyes.

I smiled softly, unable to help myself. Toboe could be so observant. "I'm fine, just tired." I replied softly.

Tsume looked at me knowingly and when I looked up at him he nodded in understanding. He understood how hard it was to watch the one you love embrace another.

"I need," Hige gasped from between the support of Tsume and Toboe, "I need to find Blue. She's waiting for me."

Kiba walked up to stand beside me with Cheza in his arms. "Let's go."


	13. Chapter 13

We followed Hige's directions to where he left Blue but when we got there she was no where to be found.

"This was the place… I'm sure of it."

"Hige…" Toboe said, trying to somehow comfort him.

"I gave my word to Blue, I promised, if she waited here for me I swore I'd make it back to her no matter what it took." Hige continued, his voice shaking.

"After all that's happened maybe it wasn't safe anymore. I'll bet even someone like Blue had to make a run for it." Toboe tried to reason and comfort.

"Or maybe she didn't believe you would keep your promise." Tsume said.

I knew what Hige had done but I still thought that Tsume was being unnecessarily cruel. Hige was punishing himself enough. He didn't need us.

Toboe rounded on Tsume. "Come on, Hige made things right and you know it! Let it go already."

"Kiba…" Cheza requested softly and he knew instantly what she wanted and walked up behind Hige and knelt down to where she could reach him.

She lifted her hand and it shook with the effort it took to heal in her condition.

"Do not give up on finding Paradise. The true Paradise is meant for every one of you." She encouraged softly.

"It's okay you can stop. I'm feeling a lot better now." Hige said quietly.

"You have to go." She continued.

"Kiba, that's enough, make her stop!" Hige pleaded.

Kiba stood, effectively stopping Cheza as she couldn't reach him. He walked over to Tsume.

"Take her." He asked quietly and Tsume did. Kiba then returned to Hige and knelt in front of him. "Grab onto me."

Hige looked away. "Well go on. Aren't you gunna say anything? Like how Jagara and I-" Hige was cut off as Kiba grabbed Hige's good arm and draped it over his shoulders and put his other arm around Hige's waist to support him more firmly.

"You told me something once. You said that having pride doesn't count for much if you're dead. We've been trying to reach Paradise from the very beginning, together. It hasn't changed. Not even now. And that's all that matters." Kiba said with finality and turned and led Hige away with the rest of us following.

We were well out of the cities limits when Hige stopped.

"Hige what is it?" Kiba asked.

"Forget it. I guess it was nothing." Hige replied.

We started to continue before two large crashes stopped us again.

"I got a bad feeling." Tsume said.

We kept going for a while longer until Hige stopped us again.

"That's Blue's scent. I'd know it anywhere." Hige let go of Kiba and staggered forward a couple steps before dropping heavily on his knees with Toboe next to him.

Toboe identified the blood as belonging to Blue's human. It somehow started a fight with Tsume being his cheerful, agreeable self. He could be so damned heartless sometimes and yet he could also say the most profound things. It was giving me whiplash.

We followed Tsume silently, each thinking their own dark thoughts and battling to stay positive toward our goal.

Some hours later Kiba was carrying Cheza again and I was following him followed by Tsume, Toboe, and then Hige who was unable to put any weight on his injured front leg. He collapsed and we went back for him to try and encourage him to keep going.

And then we heard Blue in the distance. Once Hige caught sight of her he jumped up and ran as fast as his tired and injured body could carry him. Blue tackled him and they rolled around together.

We then noticed a car coming toward us. It stopped and the same woman from the lab where we had first met Cheza stepped out along with Hubb, the man she had been with that day.

We decided to travel with them. Blue and Hige rode in the back with the old man while Kiba let the woman hold Cheza. The rest of us ran along side the truck.

A meteor fell from the sky far too close to where we were. The ice we were traveling on started to shatter and brake away. I thought we were going to lose the truck a couple times but somehow Hubb managed to keep them from going over the edge. Albeit he did flip it.

We were still running to where the truck had stopped when we saw it break away and fall with the woman still inside. We doubled our pace and got down to the bottom of the cliff as quickly as possible.

We watched as Hubb called out to her, holding her gently in his arms. He talked soothingly to her once she let him know she was awake. He talked to her for a minute and then she was gone. As he cried my heart ached for him. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Kiba and I didn't want to. I could only imagine the pain he was going through.

When he stopped crying a while later he walked to the edge of the water and let her go, letting the water claim her body. He then got up and walked past us to where the truck was lying on its side and began to try and tip it upright again, all by himself. His determination rivaled Kiba's.

Kiba got up and went to help him and I followed shortly after, followed by Tsume, Toboe and Hige. With the six of us we managed to get the truck upright again after some serious effort. Damn thing was heavy! Couldn't the humans have made it any lighter?

And then Hubb surprised us by wanting to come with us. To make sure we got there. Kiba agreed. Hige and Blue rode with Cheza, Hubb and the old man in the truck while Tsume, Toboe and I followed Kiba's lead on foot. I was amazed the truck could still run after the fall it went through. Maybe that's why the damned thing was so heavy; it was nearly indestructible.

The truck came to a screeching halt and Hubb jumped out and ran to the back and opened it up. When we got there he was doing CPR on the old man. Cheza helped by breathing for him. Within a couple of tries the old man was back thanks to Cheza and Hubb.

We decided to stay put for a while just in case. They got to talking and Tsume brought up the very valid point that the old man wont like it when he wakes up and sees a bunch of wolves. Nor will he agree to go to Paradise with us.

When we decided to start moving again Toboe decided to ride in the truck. He had become attached to the old man somewhere along the line after all.

Somewhere around dusk the truck finally croaked. Hubb carried the old man while Blue saw to Hige and of course Kiba was with Cheza. Tsume, Toboe and I grabbed blankets from the truck and we continued on our way, all on foot an without a word.

We stopped for what we could only guess was the night. Blankets were passed out and everyone tried to get as much rest as they could. After a few hours the old man woke up. We watched anxiously to see how he would react to all of us.

We tensed when he recognized Toboe's voice and then Kiba bluntly told the truth. He reacted poorly to say the least. Despite his condition he started walking away, unwilling to listen to anything anyone said, and disowned Blue. Hubb ran after him while Blue walked in a different direction. Hige followed her shortly after.

While the others were gone that stupid noise started up again. That bastard Darcia was still on our tails. Just what this nightmare of an adventure needed.

Suddenly the noise stopped and a massive laser shot from somewhere caused a huge explosion. It kicked up a huge wall of ice and snow and I could barely see the others a few feet away from me.

We needed to move but no one had come back yet. Toboe was sent after the humans and Tsume was going to go after Hige and Blue. But before he could we could sense Darcia close by. Too close for comfort. As the ice wall finally ended we heard a gun shot. We immediately ran toward it.

When we finally got to them it was too late. Toboe was gone and the old man wasn't fairing much better. The look that came over Tsume was one that I thought I'd never see. He was fighting tears.

Kiba suddenly looked off in a different direction. He looked back at me and I nodded and he took off. I would take care of Cheza until he got back.

Cheza sat with Toboe and pet him for a while and Tsume sat apart. I watched them both, unsure of who I should be worried about more. After a while Cheza got up and stood facing the direction we had been traveling in. Soon after Blue and Hige found their way to us. Blue approached Toboe and the old man and was just in time to see him die.

Kiba returned a minute after with Hubb. Kiba paid his respects. He then started the mourning howl and each of us joined in. Including Cheza with her special song, our voices hopefully reaching Toboe as he made his way to Paradise ahead of us.

Now the others talked. They needed to decide if they would continue on with us or not. Hubb decided to continue on. Blue and Hige did as well. As we got ready to leave Tsume told us he would catch up with us later. That he wanted to stay with Toboe for a while.

We understood so we left, leaving Tsume to mourn Toboe alone. Half way to our destination Cheza was having a hard time, along with Hige and Hubb. We stopped to rest under an over hang.

Kiba and I had been sharing looks for a while. While the others were resting we went off on our own to have one last moment before we confronted Darcia. We found a small cave and went inside. We huddled together as we finally let our tears flow freely. But being from the background I came from I was far too used to seeing friends die. I calmed faster than Kiba so I sat holding him. In that moment he looked so small and the kid he truly was came to the surface.

He gripped onto me tightly. "He's gone. And it's- it's my-"

I cut him off right there with a passionate kiss. I couldn't stand to let him blame himself. I lowered him to the ground without breaking the kiss. I settled myself on top of him before releasing his mouth.

"That was not your fault and you know it. We all signed on knowing it could lead to that. We all knew it could happen, including Toboe. Don't blame yourself." I growled with determination before sealing our mouths together again.

The kiss was slow and comforting. Kiba needed that right now. He wasn't indestructible or unmovable as he appeared to be sometimes. He needed someone to comfort him at times just like anyone else.

As we continued to kiss his hands started roaming my chest and back. When one of his hands found the pleasure spot on my lower back I pulled away and moaned quietly into his neck.

"Ki-ah… Kiba are you sure?" I had to ask. Being so close to the final battle it might not be a good idea to use any more energy than necessary.

"Yes. Please Gin." Was his reply as he connected our lips and his hand again brushed my lower back.

I moaned into his mouth and rocked my hips against his. We both groaned. I quickly took off my hoodie and shirt and Kiba followed suit. I placed our clothes beneath him so he wouldn't be laying on ice. His hand went immediately to my chest and stomach. Shivers that had nothing to do with the cold repeatedly wracked my body. I worked my way down his jaw to his ear and then down his neck, nipping and licking any spot my lips touched. He moaned quietly.

I had allowed him to be top for our first time because he was my alpha and I did truly love him enough to put myself in such a vulnerable position. However, it was becoming clear that I was the dominate one this time around. He needed comfort and to know that he didn't always have to be in charge. That I would take care of him. And I was determined not to disappoint.

I left a light mark on his collar bone and continued my way down his body, returning to sensitive spots I had memorized our first time, making sure to take my time with him. He was soon a panting, shivering mess.

He moaned as I palmed him through his jean and the sound went straight to my groin. His hands found my pants and he undid them, reaching a hand inside to grip my hard member. I hissed at the cold touch and was quick to silence an apology with a quick kiss. As his hand started moving over me I hurried to remove both my own pants and his.

I gently removed his hand from my cock, to instead stroke us both together. We were moaning together, writhing and rocking into each other in rhythm. I stopped when I was about to cum. Kiba groaned in frustration. I kissed him gently before I replace my mouth with three fingers. He knew what came next and accepted the digits. I now got a taste of my own medicine from when I tortured Kiba the last time while doing the very same thing.

I moaned as I took my fingers from his mouth. I looked at him, silently asking for permission. He nodded and I kissed him, my fingers finding their destination. I took my time, making sure he was adequately prepared. And then I positioned myself, still in a lip lock and slowly pressed in, swallowing all of his pleasure pained moans. When I was fully seated I gave him a moment to adjust. And only after a short pause he rocked against me, letting me know I could move and making me sink deeper and moan.

I pulled out and slowly thrust back in. I kept my pace slow, unable to get enough of the sounds he made, the way he moved and the way he felt. I kept changing the angle I entered him, trying to find that spot that I knew was there. He arced his back beautifully and the moan that escaped him was music to my ears when I did find it. I made sure to hit that spot every time.

I reached between us to take his weeping member into my hand and stroke him at the same slow pace as my thrusts. His moans became more frequent and drawn out as he became more desperate for release. I moaned low in my throat when he started to relentlessly massage my lower back.

Gradually my thrusts sped up and we both teetered closer and closer to the edge. Whoever fell first was bound to take the other with him. We came almost simultaneously, each orgasm intensified by the other.

When I was finally able to think again I pulled out of him and collapsed onto my back next to him, huddling close in the afterglow. After a minute of catching our breath he rolled on top of me and kissed me. I returned it, lifting a hand to brush some hair out of his face. When he pulled back his eyes glowed with unbridled emotion. I pulled him to me, hugging him tightly, unwilling to ever let go.

"I love you Kiba. Please don't ever leave me. I love you." I whispered softly to him.

I knew that wasn't what he was expecting to hear by the way he stiffened but he relaxed almost immediately.

"I love you too. And you can't leave me either." He whispered back.

"Never. I'll be with you, forever and always."

Our hug tightened and we stayed like that for a few minutes. But we had to move. We needed to get back to the others soon. Slowly we untangled ourselves and got dressed. We took our time making our way back to the others.

When we finally arrived back at camp everyone was dozing, trying to relax enough to rest at least a little. Tsume still hadn't joined up with us. A pang of sadness washed over me. Our journey was coming to an end and the biggest hurdle had yet to be cleared. Just how many of us would die before we reached our goal?

* * *

><p>Ok so one chapter left to go. I cant believe it's finally almost over. Thank you to all of my readers! And I would love to know what you thought of this chapter! Was the ending cheesy or did you like it? I wasn't originally going to have the whole 'I love you' thing in there but I though it just fit. Tell me what you think.<p> 


	14. Chapter 14

I don't know how long we rested but once we were finally on our way again the weight of what we were about to face hung heavily over us. Hige stopped behind us and voiced some concerns about himself. Kiba reassured him as only Kiba could. It was what Hige needed to hear and we were moving again.

We made it to the huge ice mountain or what ever the hell it was and started climbing. We were all having a harder time breathing as the air grew thinner.

We came to an area that looked like old ruins. In the center there was a huge tree. It looked to be dead but Cheza said other wise. She climbed up onto it a ways and put her hand on it. She did something and the tree glowed for a few seconds and then the sky started glowing with the lights of the aurora. The tree then turned to what I could only guess was ice or stone.

Hubb had pulled out a book that was apparently about Paradise. Blue asked if it said what Paradise was like but the last pages were blank. Cheza pointed toward a mountain to the left of where we were and identified that peak as the entrance to Paradise. We set off, following Kiba and Cheza.

We took a break half way up the top. Hubb was having a hard time keeping up. An earthquake started and we heard him scream. We found him barely hanging onto a ledge a good ways down from where he had been. We wanted to help him but he wouldn't let us. We could do nothing but watch. And then he grew too weak to hang on and simply let go. We respected his decision and let him go.

He was a brave man and I respected him for that. He survived the longest out of all the humans. He was the first human I ever respected in my entire life. We stayed where we were until we heard him hit bottom.

Kiba started and whirled. Behind us on a higher ledge stood a black wolf.

"The world where you would go hand in hand with the Flower Maiden has neither perfect happiness, nor joy, nor life. This is because it also does not contain perfect sadness, nor misery, nor death." He spoke, and only then did we recognize him as Darcia.

"He actually did it. He turned into a wolf!" Hige voiced all our thoughts in disbelief.

"What lies in waiting is a paradise for wolves alone. The unclean humans are no more." Darcia continued as if no one had spoken.

His words provoked the anger in Blue and she stood from where she was holding onto Cheza.

"Come with me Cheza. It is time." Darcia spoke as if none of us were even there. He started forward, casually walking toward Cheza. "What I have become has great need of you."

Cheza shook with fear and couldn't move.

"Don't come any closer." Kiba growled threateningly. Darcia stopped and looked at Kiba. "Gin, go on ahead."

"Kiba!" Hige objected and I couldn't agree more.

"Take the others. Keep them safe."

The two wolves charged and met in a pass before jumping away, following each the higher up the mountain. I didn't see what happened next but I heard a thud and then Darcia was running toward the mountain toward Cheza.

I resisted the urge to run to where Kiba was and instead moved in front of Cheza along with Hige, to protect her as Kiba had asked of me.

As Darcia launched off a ledge and I was prepared to meet him but Blue came from the right and intercepted him mid air. He twisted their bodies and made sure to land as hard as he could on top of Blue. She didn't move and Hige ran to where she was only to be thrown back.

Darcia then returned to where Blue was and before I could do anything he sunk his teeth deeply into her neck. Kiba jumped in front of Blue and Darcia backed up and Hige grabbed his hind leg. Darcia looked back at him, completely unfazed. And then Hige was next.

I snarled and charged, sinking my fangs as deeply as I could into the haunch on his left side. He whirled around and grabbed me by my neck and hurled me into a wall of ice. I blacked out for a moment and then I heard Cheza scream and came back to myself, shrugging off the pain and standing.

Darcia had Cheza in his jaws and jumped away, higher toward the peak. Kiba was struggling to his feet and we both started running after Darcia. Kiba stopped when he passed Hige. I kept after Darcia. He needed to be stopped before he could reach the top.

I jumped on top of him and latched on. We tumbled and he let go of Cheza to reach back and grab me by the scruff and throw me across the ice. I let myself roll and jump to my feet and ran at him. He waited for me and as I came in range he moved out of range of my fangs and as I passed he ripped three long gashes in my left hind leg.

I stumbled and rolled and then struggled to my feet. I charged him again. He dodged to the left and slashed my right shoulder. Before I could move out of the way he grabbed my hind leg and whirled my around and then let me go. I slammed hard into an ice covered rock. I couldn't move.

I opened my eyes to see him grab Cheza again and continue up the mountain. Kiba passed me and kept going when I urged him on. I needed to stay still and let my body sort itself out. A few minutes later Tsume found me.

"Kiba's up ahead. He needs help. I won't be able to move for a few more minutes." I quickly told him through clenched teeth, as the muscles in my back painfully spasmed.

He nodded and immediately ran off to follow Kiba. I could hear Kiba and Darcia fighting and I knew Kiba needed help. Darcia's strength was unreal. The mountain again began to quake.

Finally I was able to move. I headed to where I knew they had gone. When I got there Cheza was a the crater of the mountain and as she tipped over the side Kiba grabbed for her but he missed. Closer to me Tsume had a death grip on Darcia and he was furiously trying to throw Tsume off. He finally did and then went back and slashed deeply at Tsume's side.

I intercepted him as he tried to go after Cheza. Kiba went to Tsume. I faced off against Darcia. I knew I couldn't beat him but I need to buy time and maybe even injure him.

He snarled and charged at me. He jumped and as he landed he went down low and tried to bite my front legs. I jumped back and the charged forward to bite his neck. He dodged and jumped over me, leaving several long slashes from my right shoulder to my left hind leg. I rolled away from him and circled around. I ran at him as fast as I could and when he lunged at me I ducked and slid under his legs. I came out behind him and with bone crushing force, bit into his back leg. I managed to topple him and throw him but he just sprang right back up.

Before I knew it he was right in my face. He bit into my neck and chest but I somehow avoided a fatal bite. I struggled to my feet and bared my fangs at him. I lifted my head and tail and my ears were straight up. My stance was the perfect picture of a pissed alpha. He faced me and snarled. We charged and danced around each other until he was able to grab me and whirl me around, my head crashing hard into a block of ice.

I couldn't move. Black was encroaching on my vision and my head and body hurt like hell. During the fight Kiba had left Tsume and went after Cheza. I kept Darcia busy for as long as I could but I was at my limit. It was up to Kiba now to open the Paradise we had all been hoping for.

Before the darkness claimed me I watched Darcia whirl away from me and sprint to the crater and without hesitation he jumped in.

Then black.

I was floating in nothingness. Unable to see. Unable to hear. Unable to feel.

A scream broke through the darkness and I was jolted into consciousness as it registered as belonging to Kiba. I immediately tried to jump to my feet but had to bite back a scream as my injuries jolted with my movement. I panted and rested for a few minutes before attempting to stand again. Moving much slower I was able to somehow stagger to my feet.

Slowly I stumbled up the mountain the crater opening. I couldn't see the bottom. I jumped. Either Kiba was alive or Darcia was. I was prepared for both possible outcomes.

When my feet hit the bottom my legs collapsed and I yelled in pain as I landed hard.

"Gin!" I heard Kiba yell in surprise.

I groaned and opened my eyes and saw him running to me. I couldn't see Darcia. Cheza was no where to be seen either. The ground was covered in small, dark green seed-like things.

Kiba reached me and fell to his knees and picked me up. He held me in his arms and I noticed that he was crying.

"You're alive. I thought- I thought when Darcia followed me that he must have killed you."

I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. "Are you okay? Where's Darcia?"

"I'm not really sure what happened. He walked over there and suddenly light coursed through him and then he was gone."

I sighed in relief. He was gone. "What about Cheza?" I asked softly.

He showed me a withered up lunar flower. "These seeds were the last thing she did."

"I'm sorry," I hugged him tightly and we stayed in each others arms for the longest time.

We stayed there passing in and out of consciousness, remaining close to each other. I don't know how long it was before we finally decided it was time to leave. We found our way out of the crater and started walking.

We held hands and gave each other hope for the future. We didn't know where we were going or how long it would take to get there, but it didn't matter. As we started our journey again it didn't matter what obstacles got in our path.

This time around, we were together. And that was how it was going to stay.

* * *

><p>I can't believe it... It's finally over... *sighs* I hope you enjoyed it as much as i enjoyed writing it. Thank you to my faithful readers. Also to anyone that's interested I am working on a KakashixIruka fic so keep your eyes out for it. Hopefully I will have it up soon. See you everyone! ;)<p> 


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